CHENNAI: Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner J Radhakrishnan inaugurated an event promoting awareness about breast feeding at the Vijaya Hospital in Chennai. The event was themed ‘Breast milk – A right of every infant’ - Translating passion into practice. It is worth noting that the hospital in 2003 became a ‘Baby Friendly Hospital’ by meeting the high standards of a global initiative launched by WHO and UNICEF.
Vijaya hospital brought together healthcare organizations (Hospitals and clinics), healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses and lactation support team) and public stakeholders (NGOs) and have provided a platform to share current knowledge and good practices to enable and empower every mother to give breast milk to her infant for at least the first 6 months.
The sessions within this CME have been carefully curated into 6 sections – starting with sessions to set the context (global, national and state) for support for breast feeding followed by an Oration on the main theme of the CME - ‘Breast milk – A right of every infant’ – How can we make it a reality?. Then there are 3 panel discussions to share experiences – Achievements, challenges and good practice points from 3 settings – Government Institutions, Private Hospitals and the community. Finally, there were sessions to provide focused guidance on how to set up a Human Milk Bank in your hospital and maintain standards including sustainable donation and improving quality. We had a galaxy of experienced senior professionals (Neonatologists, Pediatricians, Corporation Medical Officers, Neonatal nurses, Lactation Consultants) and founder of a NGO supporting Human Milk Bank as speakers and panelists.