Asia’s first milk bank gets facelift

Mumbai: The milk bank of civic-run Sion Hospital just got a massive makeover. From bigger storage units to better pasteurisation equipment, the milk bank now boasts international standards. The bank is a 29-year-old comprehensive lactation management centre (CLMC), also known as Asia’s first milk bank.

The makeover was carried out by a private company collaboration with NGO PATH, based on a PPP model. It involved revamping the entire infrastructure of the centre, setting up bigger storage units, new machines and a new deep freezer. Earlier, the centre used to heat and cool the milk separately during testing, but now a new machine carries out the entire process, thus saving time.

Dr Jayashree Mondkar, Sion Hospital dean and CLMC in-charge said that the main focus of the centre is breastfeeding and milk-banking and helping infants who are unable to get mother’s milk.

“Mother’s milk is a saviour for the baby but if some mothers or infants are unable to breastfeed, the next best option is to use a donor mother’s milk, which is where the CLMC comes in.”

“To ensure that the donor’s milk is safe for the baby, we pasteurise and put it through a series of tests and processes before it is given to the baby. There is a vigorous donor-screening process,” she said.

About mothers sometimes unable to breastfeed for two to three weeks, Dr Mondkar said, “That could be due to delivery-related issues, the mother’s poor health, convulsions, and sometimes because the child is transferred to other hospitals. For that time, we use these milk banks to provide the baby the needed nutrition.”