BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental now has a human milk bank – the first in Negros Island.
It was inaugurated yesterday morning at the Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Provincial Hospital (TLJPH) in Silay City.
A human milk bank – also called breast milk bank or lactarium – is a facility that collects, screens, processes, stores, and dispenses by prescription human milk donated by nursing mothers who are not biologically related to the recipient infant.
The facility at TLJPH is a project of the Rotary Club of Metro Bacolod in collaboration with the provincial government of Negros Occidental. It aims to help newborns get the breast milk that they need.
Breast milk provides all the nourishment that infants need in their first six months of life. It’s critical that newborns must be exclusively breastfed (i.e. feeding them only breast milk, not even water, during the first six months) to give them a healthy start in life.
“This milk bank is an answer to the growing need for breast milk, not just for optimum nutrition, but most importantly, to save the lives of Negrense babies, especially the vulnerable and premature ones,” said Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson.
Dr. Mary Ann Maestral, TLJPH chief, said they have been “dreaming” of a milk bank for 10 years. While some mothers produce enough milk, others don’t, she pointed out.
According to a 2017 report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), only 34 percent of children under six months in the Philippines are exclusively breastfed.
In a human milk bank, breast milk is collected from donors using manual methods or breast pumps, with assistance from human milk bank staff.
Raw breast milk that has been collected is stored in a freezer. Each container is labeled with complete details such as the donor’s name, date and time of collection, and the amount of breast milk collected.
To prepare breast milk for pasteurization, it is first thawed in a refrigerator overnight. Breast milk from multiple donors is then pooled under a laminar flow hood, a ventilation device that controls the circulation of filtered air to prevent contamination while milk is being transferred to new containers.
Each batch of breast milk is pasteurized at 62.5°C for 30 minutes. Pasteurization kills bacteria, virus and other microorganisms, and extends the shelf life of breast milk. Samples from each batch are sent to the hospital laboratory before and after pasteurization for microbiological testing to ensure safety and quality. Pasteurized milk is then stored in a freezer at -20°C.
To get breast milk from the milk bank, recipients need to present a doctor’s prescription, fill out required forms, and pay a minimal fee – if any – to help sustain milk bank operations./PN
