Experts swear by the importance of breast milk for newborns. However, it is not always possible for neonates to access it due to a variety of factors. Keeping this mind, the district administration has set up a breast milk pump bank at the Civil Hospital, which is being touted as the first of its kind in Punjab.
Inaugurating the pump bank, municipal corporation councillor Mamta Ashu, additional deputy commissioner (development) Amit Kumar Panchal, and UT assistant commissioner Harjinder Singh Bedi, said the health workers will use the pumps to get breast milk immediately after the birth of infants and would feed them at regular intervals.
“Health workers will pump out the breast milk and give it to newborns who have trouble latching on or in cases where the mother experiences extreme pain while breastfeeding the child,” an official said, adding that a container has also been installed to preserve the milk.
The bank has two electric pumps, 10 manual pumps, 16 containers and one steriliser.