more-in Christian Medical College’s Department of Neonatology now has a breast milk bank. Human milk will be collected from mothers, who are willing, stored at the bank and given to babies of mothers, who are sick or unable to produce enough milk. S. Sridhar, professor and head of Neonatology, CMC, told reporters on Friday that the hospital has about 15,000 deliveries in a year. Of this, 20 per cent babies were born premature, while five to 10 per cent mothers were referred to CMC for babies with complications. “Premature babies can be fed only breast milk. In many cases, their mothers are sick and in the Intensive Care Unit. They cannot feed the babies for the first few days, while some mothers cannot produce adequate breast milk,” he said. This prompted the idea of establishing a breast milk bank at the hospital, he said, adding that the first human milk bank was started in Mumbai in the late 1980s. “But the concept did not take off in the country until after 2005,” he said. A human milk bank was established at the Institute of Child Health, Egmore in Chennai, and currently, there are seven banks in the government sector in Tamil Nadu. “There are about 20 to 30 banks in India now, mostly in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu,” he said. With the breast milk bank opened at CMC on Thursday, the doctors and nurses would approach mothers to volunteer to donate milk. “On an average, there are at least 200 mothers in the hospital at a given time. We will look for volunteers to donate milk. Once they give the consent, we will screen the mother to ensure she has no infections before she donates the milk. The milk will be pasteurised. It will be stored at -20 degree centigrade in the bank,” he said. This way the milk can be stored for six to 12 months. I t will be sent to the laboratory every day for culture to ensure that it is bacteria-free, he pointed out.

Stay updated with all the Latest Puducherry headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.