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Breast milk bank at MGM Hospital soon
As the concept of banked human milk gaining importance across the globe a ‘breast milk bank’ is going to come up at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital (MGMH) in Warangal soon.
Warangal: As the concept of banked human milk gaining importance across the globe a ‘breast milk bank’ is going to come up at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital (MGMH) in Warangal soon.
It will be the second breast milk bank or a human milk bank in public sector in Telangana. It may be recalled that the first human milk bank in the state has been established at the state-run Niloufer Hospital in Hyderabad on Oct 27 this year.
Similarly, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in June this year launched the National Human Milk Bank at Lady Hardinge Medical College in New Delhi. Milk banks have also come up in Chennai, Bengaluru and Mumbai.
The district medical and health department has sent a proposal to the state government last April. A decision was taken on Tuesday by the District Health Society under the department to establish the breast milk bank, informed the district medical and health officer Dr B Harish Raj.
Speaking to The Hans India, Dr Harish Raj said the proposed milk bank at MGMH will be operational within two months. According to him, the breast milk bank is a service which collects, screens, processes and dispenses. It is meant to offer optimum nutrition for premature babies to reduce the risk of infant mortality. In many cases, premature babies may not be able to draw milk from their mothers.
“Breast milk has a protective effect against necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) a condition seen in premature infants. In such cases banked human milk is considered as ‘the next best’ if the biological mother can't breastfeed her child,” said Dr Harish Raj
“At present the infant mortality rate in erstwhile Warangal district is 28 out of one lakh live births. Our aim is to bring it to below 10 by 2020,” Dr Raj said adding milk banks will also help to addressing the problems like short-gut syndrome, intractable diarrhoea, nephrotic syndrome, immune deficiencies and others. The milk bank will have dedicated doctor and nurses to look after its operations.
In addition to the breast milk bank, it is also planned to set up a de-addiction centre and a dedicated swine flu ward at the hospital. Similarly, it is proposed to equip all the primary health centres in the district with fire extinguishers, Dr Harish Raj informed.
