Bank For Milk Of Human Kindness
INFANTS forced to feed on artificial milk can now look forward to a Human Milk Bank that will bring them mother’s milk–through not necessarily their own mother’s. The bank and the concept–is taking shape at K.G. Patel Children’s Hospital in Karelibaug. The only other bank in India is working at L.T.M.G. Hospital in Sion, Mumbai. The bank will collect milk from mothers who are ready to donate surplus milk. The milk will be sterilized, pasteurized and preserved in a deep freezer, where it can remain for up to one month.

It will be given to newborns brought to the hospital who have been separated from their mothers for one reason or the other. It will also be a boon for children born to mothers who can’t lactate.

The hospital receives between 40 and 50 infants everyday, all of whom are given artificial milk while their mothers take treatment elsewhere for complications during childbirth. Though not advisable, artificial milk is the only option. Dr. Nirupama Munshi will leave for Mumbai next week to learn more about the equipment needed for the bank. She told The Indian Express, “It may not be easy to convince mothers with surplus milk to donate it”. Dr. Munshi has been working with Dr. Arun Phatak and Dr. V. C. Patel to popularize breast feeding. She says, the experience the team has gathered during the campaign will come handy. Dr. Phatak and Dr. Munshi said though the concept of a milk bank was not new, it had never taken root in Gujarat. The practice of ‘wet nursing’ was prevalent mostly in rural areas.

In the hospital itself, many mothers donate extra milk produced to needy babies. But the supply is erratic and the shelf life of milk less than 24 hours. The milk bank can pool, preserve and provide safe human milk. The hospital spokesman said K. G. Hospital treated thousands of neonates born in other hospitals, some as far as Chhotaudepur and Dahod. The bank will enable babies to get their own mother’s milk though they would remain at different places. “Many mothers feel frustrated when they learn they can’t suckle their babies”, Dr. Munshi said. Now they will have the satisfaction of feeding their babies with their own milk.

Dr. Phatak, a well–known pediatrician attached to the hospital, has prepared a project report for the bank. Dr. Bhupendra and Dr. Leelaben Patel, two philanthropists, have already donated Rs. 1.5 Lakhs to the Lions Club of Baroda (Main), to be given to the hospital authorities.