Paediatricians call for scaling up human milk banks in Keralam

Calls for addressing the lactation gap are growing louder, with the paediatric community stressing on the need to scale up human milk banks and encourage breast milk donation. The medical fraternity opines that efforts should be made to bring more donors into the fold to ensure a self-sustaining system.

Lack of awareness, stigma and misconceptions continue to be the key reasons for the low turnout of lactating mothers donating milk at the Comprehensive Lactation Management Centre (CLMC) and Human Milk Banks set up in the Keralam, according to doctors.

Dr. Riaz I., former president of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) Keralam, said that the scarcity of human milk to address the clinical demands for preterm or sick infants in hospitals can be resolved by scaling up human milk banks. “Mother’s own milk is the best for the baby, and in its absence, donor human milk should be used. But often, formula milk has to be provided to these infants, which can be avoided if more donors came forward,” said Dr. Riaz, who is also the superintendent of SAT Hospital, which is attached to the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram.

Former national president of IAP Dr. S. Sachidananda Kamath said that despite every effort, no one has been able to recreate human milk. Artificial milk has to be relied on when hospitals do not have enough supply of human milk, he notes. “There is a perceptible gap between lactation requirements and breastmilk utilisation. Setting up more milk banks across hospitals and encouraging more donors will help provide essential neonatal care and nutrition to babies,” said Dr. Kamat, who is the superintendent of the Indira Gandhi Co-operative Hospital, Ernakulam.

The Institute of Mother and Child (IMCH) in Government Medical College, Kozhikode, sees about 100-110 sick, vulnerable newborns requiring intensive care everyday. Dr. Deepa K.S., nodal officer of CLMC, at the hospital says that their patient load is high. “While we can provide lactation support, a gap prevails. The same scenario prevails in other high-volume centres across the State and can be addressed if more donors come forward,” said Dr. Deepa.

Creating more awareness and dispelling myths among the community can help strengthen the lactation sector, said Dr. Aswathy Rahul, nodal officer of CLMC, SAT Hospital. “We get to meet the needs of our hospital and occasionally address requests from other hospitals. The milk is provided for free, but we rarely get donors from outside,” said Dr. Aswathy. She recalls the case of a donor who travelled 85 km to their hospital, voluntarily to donate. “A doctor, she told us that she was keen on donating the milk as this was the only phase in which she could,” said Dr. Aswathy.

Ernakulam General Hospital (GH) has recently proposed setting up a milk collection unit to collect breast milk from lactating donor mothers and provide it to infants to meet their nutritional needs. A new mother from Lakshadweep, who had given birth at the hospital, said lack of awareness stops women from donating. “There are no such facilities in Lakshadweep. So when faced with breast engorgement or similar issues, they express the milk and discard it, instead of donating it, which could help feed another baby, “ said Mariyath, who had arrived at the milk bank to express her milk.