The Sindh Health Department has inaugurated the country’s first human milk bank (breast milk donor bank) at a public hospital in the provincial capital, Karachi.
Hospitals worldwide primarily use human milk banks to provide milk to premature or sick infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). However, such banks and facilities were not yet available in Pakistan when the first human milk bank was established in Sindh.
The country’s first breast milk bank was launched at the Sindh Institute of Child Health and Neonatology (SICHN) with support from UNICEF. Here, mothers can donate milk for newborns who cannot breastfeed for various reasons.
According to a report published in the English newspaper The News, the human milk bank will supply donor milk to babies who cannot get their mother’s milk for any reason.
Health experts say donor milk can provide these vulnerable babies with essential nutrients, antibodies and protective factors that help them develop.
The breast milk bank will collect, process and store milk donated by nursing mothers according to hygienic standards and distribute it accordingly.
The staff of the country’s first breast milk bank will be trained in several Islamic countries and the bank will operate in full Sharia compliance.
Complete records will be kept of both the donating women and the infants who receive them, and if necessary, breast milk will also be provided to babies in other hospitals.
