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Pune city gets 6th human milk bank, demand likely to rise as neonatal care improves
The new human milk bank will be useful for newborns admitted to neonatal intensive care units or in cases where the mother is unable to breastfeed the newborn
PUNE With yet another human milk bank to be inaugurated at Bharati Vidyapeeth hospital on Sunday, Pune will get its sixth such bank. Already, the city has five human milk banks; four in private hospitals and one at Sassoon general hospital.
The new human milk bank will be useful for newborns admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) or in cases where the mother is unable to breastfeed the newborn. According to experts, demand for human milk will continue to rise as neonatal care improves.
Dr Jitendra Oswal, deputy medical director, Bharati Vidyapeeth hospital, said, “All premature babies who are underweight require uninterrupted milk supply and we request lactating mothers to donate their breast milk. We know that breast milk is the best milk. Up until now, we were using formula milk which is not a replacement for human breast milk. While breast milk contains anti-infective cells, antibodies and growth factors, commercial formula milk is derived from cow’s milk and does not fulfill a newborn child’s requirement and there is risk of protein allergy.”
Dr Aarti Kinikar, head of the paediatric department, said, “As neonatal care gets better, the requirement for human milk will only increase. We are encouraging young lactating mothers to donate breast milk. Sometimes, the child is extremely underweight or underweight and we prefer not to use formula milk over human breast milk. Children admitted to NICUs need breast milk or breast milk from banks can be used for kids whose mothers are unable to lactate or die after child birth. We get about 2 to 2.5 litre of human milk every day which is on par with the demand that we have but as neonatal care gets better, the demand will only increase.”
