Pune: The Human Milk Bank (HMB) at Sassoon General Hospital (SGH) will complete four years on November 19, a boon to infants who are not able to breastfeed, due to medical reasons.
The hospital delivers 3,963 newborn babies per year approximately, and around 87 per cent of new mothers express willingness to donate breastmilk for the benefit of preterm low birth weight, sick and orphan babies admitted in NICU.
Recently, a US-based software engineer, during her 10-day professional visit to Pune, donated seven litres of breastmilk, also called ‘liquid gold’, to the bank.
This bank works exactly like a blood bank as the breastmilk that is donated here is stored and given to those in need. It is used to feed newborn babies who are admitted in NICU, or where the mother is unable or unavailable to breastfeed.
Dr Ajay Chandanwale, Joint Director, DMER, Mumbai and Dean of BJGMC and SGH, said that a Human Milk Research Lab will be established in the department of paediatrics for further studies.
“It was started in the department of paediatrics of BJ Government Medical College (BJGMC) and Sassoon General Hospital (SGH), Pune on November 19 in 2013 through a donation from Bank of Baroda. This milk bank has helped to decrease neonatal mortality and the use of formula milk (special powdered milk for infants). Mothers undergo blood investigations to confirm that they are free from any infection before donation”, said Dr Chandanwale.
He also added that mothers who donate breastmilk are given chikki (groundnuts and jaggery dessert which is packed with energy and nutrients) which encourages them to donate further. “The Human Milk Bank gets about 415 litres per year. The SGH also started a Human Milk Van from August 2016 that has collected an average of 65 litres milk per year till now,” added Dr Chandanwale.
Milk Collection