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.
Rotary funding
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.
Manoj Kumar H.V., Director and Dean of the Research Institute, said with Gosha Hospital being a referral maternity hospital, several women with high-risk pregnancies are referred here from other hospitals.
“Feeding newborns, especially ones with low birth weight, with pasteurised breast milk can reduce the risk of infections and boost the immune system. Apart from feeding babies from our hospital, we can also use the donated milk for babies in other hospitals, wherever it is required,” he said.
Vani Vilas bank supports over 1,000 babies
The ‘Amruthdhare Human Milk Bank’ at Vani Vilas, which has been functioning since March 8 last year, has collected nearly 200 litres of human breast milk and has supported over 1,000 babies so far.
Hospital Medical Superintendent Savitha C. said the hospital’s NICU was free of formula feed for two consecutive months since January this year. “However, we have been using formula feed sometimes in the last two-three months, depending on the situation. While there is an increase in demand, our collection has slowed down a bit due to storage issues, as the deep freezer of the milk bank needed servicing. It has been repaired now and we are also procuring an additional freezer,” she said.
A doctor from HIMS said nearly 10 litres of milk has been collected, and over 100 babies have been supported since March this year when the bank was inaugurated.. The hospital has a 52-bed NICU.
Banks in four divisions
The State Health Department is working on starting four human milk banks in the four revenue divisions - Bengaluru, Belagavi, Kalaburgi, and Mysuru. State Deputy Director (Child Health ) Basavaraj Dabadi said the hospitals for these milk banks are being identified. “We should be able to start these milk banks in another two months,” he said.
