Odisha Gets First Human Milk Bank, 34th In India

Bhubaneswar: To cater to the needs of newborns who cannot be fed by their mothers, the first human milk bank in Odisha was inaugurated at the paediatric unit of Capital Hospital here on Wednesday. And the inaugural day saw two mothers donating milk to the facility.

Notably, the state government has been considering opening such banks since December 2018 with SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack and the Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar being picked for the purpose.

This facility, an initiative by National Health Mission (NHM), at Capital Hospital is the 34th Comprehensive Lactation Management Centre (CLMC) in the country.

Capital Hospital Director Dr Laxmidhar Sahu said mothers’ milk will be stored in the facility and supplied to hospitals across the state if the need arises. “Breast milk is an elixir for kids. Unfortunately, some mothers are unable to breastfeed their newborn baby in the initial few weeks due to various reasons, including poor health and delivery-related issues. In such situations, the newborn suffers. This human milk bank will prove to be a boon in such cases,” he said.

Among others, Health Director Bijay Mohapatra and hospital Deputy Superintendent Dr Dhananjay Das were also present.

It is worth mentioning here that the first human milk bank was established in 1989 at the Sion Hospital in Mumbai. Nearly 3000 to 5000 babies benefit from the services of this milk bank every year. Nearly 800 to 1200 litres of human milk each year are received and fed to sick and vulnerable babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.