Mother’s milk bank of Coimbatore Medical College Hospital tops in terms of beneficiaries, collection
The Hindu
Since 2015, Coimbatore Medical College Hospital's Comprehensive Lactational Management Centre has benefited 37,687 newborns. 45,23,322 ml of breast milk donated by 18,059 mothers. The milk bank is supported by NGOs like Amirtham Breastmilk Donation and provides a vital service to preterm babies, newborns with low birth weight and other complications. Donors must be tested negative for HIV, Hepatitis B and syphilis.
A total of 37,687 newborns benefited from the mother’s milk bank at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) since it became functional in 2015.
The milk bank, now known as the Comprehensive Lactational Management Centre, received a whopping volume of 45,23,322 ml of breast milk donated by 18,059 mothers since its inception. The facility has become the backbone of the Special Neonatal Care Unit (SNCU) at the hospital, which treats preterm babies, newborns with very low birth weight and other complications.
According to CMCH Dean A. Nirmala, the hospital is leading in terms of milk donated by mothers and beneficiaries.
P. Senthilkumar, neonatologist attached to the SNCU, said the milk bank was indeed one of the best in south India. Non-governmental organisations like the Amirtham Breastmilk Donation were the main support to the hospital in running the bank.
Breast milk collected from voluntary donors were brought to the milk bank and pasteurised before storing in deep freezers. Samples were collected for microbiological tests before and after the process. The frozen milk was then brought to normal temperature by keeping the container in warm water before giving it to newborns who required breast milk, neonatologist V.K. Sathyan explained the process.
“The donor should be tested negative for HIV, Hepatitis B and syphilis. These tests are normally done before delivery,” he said.
The milk bank has become a boon for newborns whose mothers are unable to breastfeed them due to illness and for newborns that are found abandoned and admitted to the SNCU.