Human milk bank likely to come up in Nagpur soon

Nagpur: Nagpur is likely to get its first Human Milk Bank in Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) soon. The banks will be the best remedy to help mothers who are unable to provide enough milk for their babies due to medical reasons.
Apart from the government authorities, the Rotary Club of Nagpur and Nagpur Obstetrics and Gynecology Society (NOGS) have joined hands to launch this project in the city. The official announcement will be made soon, confirmed NOGS president Dr Vaidehi Marathe.
“Human milk banks are a service established for the purpose of collecting milk from donors and processing, screening, storing and distributing donated milk to meet the specific needs of individuals for whom human milk is prescribed by licensed health care providers. When possible, human milk banks also serve healthy infants who have been adopted or are not able to get their own mother’s milk,” said Dr Marathe. Milk banks accept donations directly at their sites or they can arrange for safe transportation of human milk at no cost to the donor.
At GMCH, the department of pediatrics will house this milk bank. Two senior doctors from this department have already been trained in Mumbai for advanced training in milk bank management. Doctors at GMCH confirmed that the proposal of milk bank is already in the final phase. Site and infrastructure for the lab has been finalized and monitory proposals will soon get final nod from the state government.
“A milk bank is needed for a big city like Nagpur which has emerged as a medical hub of Central India. We have big hospitals and a large number of newborns, including premature babies, every day. A comparatively smaller city like Amravati has milk banks that are running successfully,” said Dr Dipty Jain, professor and head of pediatric department of GMCH, adding that more such banks are needed in Nagpur. Primary consumers of milk from these banks are premature babies. The main reason why premature babies consume donor milk is that the mother cannot provide milk for the baby.
BENEFITS OF BREAST FEEDING
* Infants who are breastfed: Have a lower risk of asthma, obesity, type 1 diabetes, severe lower respiratory disease, acute otitis media (ear infections), sudden infant death syndrome, gastrointestinal infections (diarrhoea/vomiting) & necrotizing enterocolitis
Benefit to mothers: Those who breastfeed their infants have a lower risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure etc.