The first Human Milk Bank (HMB) in Negros Island was inaugurated at the Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City on Tuesday, March 29, which is vital to saving lives, especially of premature babies.
The HMB is a project of the Rotary Club of Metro Bacolod in collaboration with the Negros Occidental provincial government.
Dr. Mary Ann Maestral, TLJPH chief, said there are a lot of mothers who over produce milk and there are those who do not have enough.
That is why there are mothers who give birth at the TLJPH who voluntarily help those who lack milk, but it will be so much better now that they have a HMB, she said.
The HMB will especially benefit premature babies
who have a bigger chance of survival if they are given breast milk, Maestral said.
The HMB milk will be given free to indigent patients at the TLJPH and in other provincial government-run hospitals, she said.
However, those from private hospitals will have to make a donation for the milk, she added.
Dr. Jean Alojado, TLJPH Pediatrics Department head, said those who give birth at the TLJPH donate milk that will be processed at the HMB.
The pasteurized human milk will be safe from diseases and can be stored in freezers donated by the Rotary for a year so anytime it is needed it can be thawed, Alojado said.
The milk is needed for premature babies, those whose mother die at childbirth, and those who give birth but have no milk, some of whom have breast cancer or other deficiencies, Alojado added.
Children who are breast fed have better resistance against illnesses, Maestral said.
The HMD was turned over by the Rotary Club of Metro Bacolod led by its president Jeinz Kreistein Salgado and past president Renato Monfort at the inauguration rites.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said in the past, when mothers couldn’t provide breast milk for their babies, because of illness or low milk production, they turned to wet nurses to give their babies what they needed.
As wet nursing became inconvenient and posed several health risks, the necessity of milk banks emerged, Lacson said.
The HMB is an answer to the growing need for breast milk, not just for optimum nutrition, but most importantly, to save lives of Negrense babies, especially the vulnerable and premature ones, said Lacson, who thanked the Rotarians for their help.
Provincial Consultant on Economic Affairs, Alfredo Benitez, lauded the HMB project and said he is looking forward to the time when the Negros Occidental and Bacolod governments will be collaborating in the implementation of health programs to better serve their constituents.*