Breast milk bank boon to preterm babies

Almost six months after its inception, the city's first human breast milk bank has helped many premature and underweight newborns.

So far, 43 newborns across the city have received breast milk from 34 mothers who donated milk to the Amaara Milk Bank, which was set up in October 2017.

"Initially, we used to receive only two or three requests a week for breast milk, but now, we get at least three requests a day from across the city for preterm babies," Dr Sreenath S Manikanti, chief neonatologist, who heads the milk bank at Fortis La Femme Hospital.

The milk bank has benefited babies from 17 hospitals across the city, including the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health. Of the 1,31,380 ml collected by the milk bank in the past six months, 1,02,050 ml has been consumed.

Dr Manikanti said that the milk bank focuses on providing breast milk to preterm and underweight babies admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Free of cost

"Breast milk is provided free of cost to babies born in poor families, while corporate hospitals are charged Rs 1.6 per litre," he said. Government hospitals in the city, which focus on mother and child care, usually have around 90 premature babies in their NICUs who are deprived of mothers' milk as their mothers may not be able to produce breast milk, said a doctor from a government tertiary care centre, who did not wish to be named.

"Premature babies whose mothers cannot produce breast milk are given formula milk (milk powder which is commercially sold)," said Dr C N Reddy, paediatrician, Vani Vilas Hospital.

"Although formula milk is an option in the absence of breast milk, increased consumption of these products can cause infections in the babies' intestines," said Dr Manikanti.