The milk bank at the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital here, which is handling nearly 100 deliveries every day, has revived the health of 11,724 newborns since its inception.
The milk bank at the hospital became functional in August 2015 and though the initial donor response was low, over the years, the number of donors and newborns benefiting through the milk bank has improved.
People from over seven districts including Namakkal, Erode, Krishnagiri, Tiruvannamalai and Villupuram are dependent on the hospital for deliveries. Most of the complicated pregnancy cases get referred to the Salem Government Hospital.
According to doctors in the paediatric department, milk from the bank is given to newborns who are delivered prematurely, in less than 28 weeks or to those with low weight, less than 1-1.5 kg. The doctors said that out of the total deliveries in a day, nearly 20 cases were pre-mature or low weight and those newborns would have to be provided with milk from the bank for their healthy growth.
A senior paediatrician said that every day, 200 ml milk was administered to a newborn and on an average, two litres of milk was utilised from the bank. At present, donors and recipients were only from within the hospital and it was done through a stringent process according to norms.
According to the statistics at the hospital, the number of donors and recipients at the hospital has been more or less equivalent.
In 2018, the milk bank received approximately 174 litres of milk from 3,113 donors and it was donated to 3,331 newborns. In 2015, when the milk bank was started, the bank received about 39 litres of milk from 562 donors and it was donated to 646 newborns.
According to the doctors, the current rate of donation needs to be improved to meet the demand of the hospital as on an average, the milk is provided to 200 newborns every month.
“Milk from the bank is provided to newborn whose mother is away or not healthy enough to feed the baby. For donation, only the excess milk is collected from lactating mothers,” said K.S. Kumaravel, professor, paediatric department.
“Initially, there were inhibitions amongst mothers regarding donating for the bank. Now, we have a lactation counsellor who will discuss with the mothers on the process and its purpose. Such efforts have improved the number of donors. However, it needs to be increased further to meet the needs of the hospital,” Mr. Kumaravel added.
K.Thirumal Babu, Dean of the hospital, said, “Salem is a pioneer in blood and organ donation and similar record needs to be created for human milk donation as well. There are some inhibitions and we are working towards creating more awareness about the milk bank donations.”
