‘Government milk banks need to get more donors’

Even as the State lacks awareness, hospitals restrict their efforts in creating awareness only to those mothers who have been admitted for delivery.

“I donated milk last year at the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, after the staff there told me about the possibility. However, I had never heard of this concept until then,” said Sridevi N, a mother of a one-year-old girl.

Stating that there are human milk banks distributed across the State, a senior doctor from GOSHA Hospital said, “It is a challenge to make women come forward to donate breast milk. We are working on educating the public about the importance of storing excess milk and to avoid wastage.” She added that mothers delivering babies at their institution are educated about the importance of storing their milk.

Stressing on the need to donate milk, she said, “There are instances wherein mothers tend to fall sick after delivery and are unable to lactate. In such cases, mothers who have excessive milk can donate and avoid wastage. We ensure that there are adequate facilities across the State in the need of the hour,” she added. However, doctors stress on the need for educating mothers beyond the institutions as well.

“Today, a large number of women struggle to produce milk. We see doctors and hospital staff educating the mothers who come to their institutions to deliver. However, that limits the donations to in-house alone. We need to educate the public in such a way that women come forward and donate,” said Dr Saranya N, an Obstetric Gynaecologist.

She said that limiting the donations to in-house makes it difficult to meet the demands. “We are planning to start programmes to educate the public as well,” said the doctor at GOSHA hospital.