Awareness low on voluntary human milk donations in state

With 23 milk banks already functioning in government medical college hospitals and district headquarters hospitals, the state has decided to expand to 15 district headquarters hospitals of Udagamandalam, Tiruppur, Erode, Namakkal, Krishnagiri, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Kumbakonam, Kovilaptti, Perambalur, Virdhunagar, Ramanthanapuram and Tenkasi. The project would cost Rs 1.5 crore.

Stating that the banks at the Institute of Child Health and Children’s Hospital (ICH) and the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (IOG) in Egmore, are functioning well, Dr S Srinivasan, Head, Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the ICH, said, “In the city, funds are being sanctioned to launch milk banks in other NICU centre hospitals like Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital (KMC), Kasturba General Hospital (KGH) and Stanley Medical College and Hospital to ensure that more women benefit from the banks.”

With the increase in lifestyle related diseases, the number of cases of women struggling to breastfeed are on the rise. “Awareness on donations must therefore increase. As of now, only women admitted in the hospitals, have been found to be volunteering to donate. While ICH and IOG alone collect 1.5 to 2 litres of milk from voluntary donors each day, the milk tends to get over soon owing to the large number of babies who are sick and in need of good milk,” added Dr Srinivasan.

With an admission of over one lakh babies each year, the hospital claims to be making full use of the human milk bank. “Our hospital has signed an MoU with an Anganwadi, through which we get Sathunavu, a nutritional supplement for post-natal mothers which helps augment their breast milk production,” said a doctor at the hospital. 

Hospitals like KMC and Stanley, on the other hand, are expecting milk banks to come up in their institutions soon. “We have received the tender and equipment is being purchased. We are hoping that this benefits all babies in need,” said Dr P Vasanthamani, Dean of the hospital.