Shortage of donor breast milk at Niloufer Hospital

Donor breast milk has been giving a healthy start to hundreds of newborns, bridging nutritional gaps for babies with medical needs. At the Niloufer Hospital, which has 250-260 newborns occupying beds

Donor breast milk has been giving a healthy start to hundreds of newborns, bridging nutritional gaps for babies with medical needs. At the Niloufer Hospital, which has 250-260 newborns occupying beds at any point in the day, the daily requirement of donor breast milk is 12.5 litres for 100-odd babies. Currently, however, there is a huge shortfall — only around 3.5 litres of the total daily need is met through the Dhaatri Mothers’ Milk Bank on the hospital campus. Some of the babies requiring donor milk are those who had preterm birth, or are underweight. Advancement in medicine is helping save the lives of babies who weigh as low as 700 to 800 grams against the healthy weight of 2.5 to 3 kg. With a high number of preterm babies, the requirement for breast milk has shot up. Head of Paediatrics department at the hospital, T. Usha Rani said that usually, it is women with health complications who have premature delivery and may have problems breastfeeding.