Breast milk bank serves over 4,000 infants in two years in Kozhikode
The Hindu
Kozhikode's Comprehensive Lactation Management Centre has helped 4,000+ infants in two years by providing donated breast milk. 3,484 donors have contributed 3,17,925 millilitres of milk, which is tested, pasteurised and stored before being delivered to infants. This has helped reduce infant mortality rate.
The breast milk bank in Kozhikode has benefited over 4,000 infants in almost two years since it came into existence.
The bank (Comprehensive Lactation Management Centre) functions at the Institute of Maternal and Child Health at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, to cater for infants for whom mother’s milk is unavailable, thus bringing down the infant mortality rate. So far, 3,484 persons have donated 3,17,925 millilitres of breast milk to the bank, which has benefited 4,393 infants.
Mothers who voluntarily turn up for breast milk donation undergo various tests before the milk is collected using breast pumps in a sterilised room. It is pasteurised and stored in a deep freezer before delivering to infants based on doctors’ directions.