PUNE: Rotary Club of Pune South on Friday donated ‘Nectar’ Human Milk Bank and Lactation Services to city-based KEM Hospital and Research Centre. Insufficient lactation in mothers is a common problem that results in depriving the newborn infants of mother’s milk, the best source of nutrition that protects the infants from illnesses and infections that they are prone to.

To overcome this problem, hospitals have set up ‘Human Milk Banks’ that collect mother’s milk from donors and preserve it for infants. ‘Nectar’, the Human Milk Bank at the city-based hospital consists of an innovative human milk pasteurising machine ‘Kimie’ that has brought down the cost of setting up such milk bank set-ups from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, making it affordable for even small hospitals with Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

New mothers who are able to express milk can donate it to these banks. This milk is then pasteurised to remove all harmful bacteria and making it fit for infants.

Dr Kurus Coyaji, Medical Director, KEM Hospital, Dr Anand Pandit, Director, Department of Paediatrics and Neonatology, Dr Kiran Purohit, President, Rotary Club of Pune South were present.

“We are happy to receive this world class equipment which will enable us to provide the best possible nutrition to infants in our hospital,” said Dr Anand Pandit

Dr Kiran Purohit, President, Rotary Club of Pune South said that women and child health should be everyone’s priority. “We plan to extend this project to other charity hospitals too, ensuring that no child is deprived of the best source of nourishment i.e. mother’s milk,” said Purohit.