Donor breast milk has been giving a healthy start to hundreds of newborns, bridging nutritional gaps for babies with medical needs. At the Niloufer Hospital, which has 280-300 newborns occupying beds at any point in the day, the daily requirement of donor breast milk for at least 100 babies is 12.5 litres. Currently, however, there is a huge shortfall — only around 3.5 litres of the total daily need is met through the Dhaatri Mothers’ Milk Bank on the hospital campus.
Some of the babies requiring donor milk are those who had preterm birth, or are underweight. Advancement in medicine is helping save the lives of babies who weigh as low as 700 to 800 grams against the healthy weight of 2.5 to 3 kg. With a high number of preterm babies, the requirement for breast milk has shot up.
Head of Paediatrics department at the hospital, T. Usha Rani said that usually, it is women with health complications who have premature delivery and may have problems breastfeeding.
Listing reasons for inability of new mothers to breastfeed their baby, the senior doctor said often only newborns suffering from health complications are brought to the hospital while the mother is left behind at the native place, or when the woman suffers from serious complications and is admitted to another hospital. The third reason could be the death of the mother post delivery.
Advantages
Doctors said that newborns should be given breast milk within one hour of birth, and the feeding should continue for at least six months. Breast milk builds immunity in children which cannot be replicated by formula milk.
Senior consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Ankura Hospital for women and children, C. Jayasree Reddy said with breast feeding, additional fat stored in body during pregnancy is shed, the chances of developing ovarian and breast cancer come down, and better development of baby’s visual acuity and brain that enhances the child’s willingness to learn.
Children who are fed formula milk turn out underweight and have compromised immunity which increases risk of hospitalisation, said Dr Usha Rani.
Head of Neonatology unit at Niloufer Hospital, M. Alimelu said even after fully feeding their newborns, mothers should be able to donate at least 170 ml of milk every day.
