Coimbatore Medical College Hospital opens mothers’ milk bank

Coimbatore: A mothers’ milk bank was inaugurated at Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) to help bring down infant mortality rate in the city.

“Breast pumps will help to suck out and collect milk in a bottle attached at the end. That milk will be kept in stainless steel container and pasteurised. Before or after pasteurising we have to send it to micro biological department for screening if there is any existence of virus. All samples with negative results will be collected and stored in refrigerator,” said Dr M. Geethanjali, professor and in charge of neonatal intensive care unit at CMCH.

This milk bank is meant for underweight or abandoned infants and for mothers not capable of feeding their babies due to biological, physical or mental problems or babies who have lost their mother.

The 730 sq feet human milk bank consists of three rooms — counselling, record keeping and music system operation and expression room where mothers can relax.The complete examination takes three days, including the reports. At one sitting 100-150 ml of milk can be collected from each mother. That milk can be given to infants for at least six months.

To be a donor, one has to undergo counselling first, the counsellor has to get acceptance from the donor, get an agreement signed by both donor and recipient. A recent research showed that less than 20 per cent women in Tamil Nadu are into breastfeeding. “Mothers should breastfeed at least for six months,” said Dr Geethanjali.