At the breast milk bank at the Institute of Child Health (ICH), Egmore, Deepa* is a first-time donor. The young mother of twins, who has been at the hospital for 11 days while her babies are undergoing treatment, says she likes doing it whenever possible. “For babies without mothers, this is a great thing,” she said.
Last week, Minister of State for Health Faggan Singh Kulaste, in a written reply to a question raised in the Lok Sabha, said that while at present there was no breast milk bank run by the Centre, the government is in the process of framing national guidelines on human milk banks. Experts say that in the last few years, as awareness of the benefits of breast milk has risen, so has the demand for donor breast milk.
Three years after it was inaugurated, Chennai’s first breast milk bank at ICH now collects between 600 ml and 1,200 ml per day. In January and February alone, a total of 242 women have donated, and 59 babies have benefited. Some private hospitals too have set up banks of their own and in August 2015, the State government inaugurated seven breast milk banks in Tamil Nadu, including one at the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Egmore.
What has helped, said C.N. Kamalarathnam, associate professor of neonatology at ICH, is the counselling provided to mothers. “The milk is primarily used for premature babies. Nearly 50 per cent of babies admitted here come in without their mothers, often brought in by relatives, if the mother is admitted elsewhere. In some cases, mothers are not able to feed their babies due to transitional lactation failure — a temporary condition generally caused by stress and inadequate nutrition. We have a policy of not using any formula milk,” he said.
Multiple advantages
Donor breast milk has several advantages over formula or supplements say doctors.
At Vijaya Group of Hospitals, which also started a milk bank in 2014 and provides it at ₹3 per ml to other hospitals, consultant neonatologist R. Ezhilarasan said a major benefit of breast milk was that it brought down the risk of necrotising enterocolitis, a potentially life-threatening condition, in which the baby’s intestine is damaged. “Donor breast milk also helps avoid intolerance to formula,” he said. The hospital has collected about 125 litres and benefited about 500 babies, he said.
Problems remain
However, Deepa Hariharan, neonatologist at Sooriya Hospital pointed out that there remain problems with acceptance of donor breast milk, especially in the private sector. “Also, the supply in the city is not very consistent, and there are cost issues,” she said, adding that a policy by the government would be very useful in this regard.
Awareness is key, both for donors and recipients. At another cubicle at ICH’s bank, 22-year-old Swarna* said she has been coming nearly every day for the last three weeks that she has been at the hospital where her pre-term baby boy has been admitted. “If I have excess milk,” she said, “I give it here for others.”
*Names changed
