Bengaluru’s second human milk bank to start at Gosha Hospital from next week

Govt. hospital in Bengaluru to start free human milk bank to support preterm, low-birth-weight babies. 3rd govt. milk bank in Karnataka, and second in Bengaluru.

Soon, preterm and low-birth-weight babies at the State-run Hajee Sir Ismail Sait (HSIS) Gosha Hospital can get supportive breast milk free of cost. The hospital’s in-house human milk bank is all set to start functioning from next week.

This will be the third government human milk bank in Karnataka and the second in Bengaluru. The donors will be mothers from the hospital. The milk will be provided free of cost to sick and preterm babies at the hospital.

At present, Vani Vilas Maternity Hospital, attached to the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, and Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences (HIMS) are the two government institutes with such a facility.

The 120-bed HSIS Gosha Hospital that is attached to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College and Research Institute (Bowring and Lady Curzon Medical College and Research Institute) is the only government maternity referral hospital for patients from east Bengaluru and Central Business District.

With funding of ₹24 lakh from Rotary Clubs of RI District 3190, the milk bank at Gosha Hospital has been taken up under ‘Project Sanjeevini’, Rotary’s maternal and child health initiative. Hospital Medical Superintendent Tulasi Devi D. told The Hindu on Wednesday that the hospital is ready with infrastructure for the milk bank.

“We had sent our staff to Vani Vilas for the required training. We have fumigated and disinfected the milk bank and are awaiting reports of the culture samples. The reports should come in a day or two. The bank will start functioning from next week,” she said.

Dr. Devi said nearly 19% of the 550 babies born in the hospital every month are pre-term with low birth weight. “Our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit  (NICU) can accommodate 12 babies, of which nearly six require supportive breast milk. This is either because they are born preterm or have low birth weight. Also, as some mothers have poor lactation, they are unable to breastfeed their babies to the required quantity,” she said.