Tripura to get its first breast milk bank

Agartala: In order to ensure that all new born babies can get breast milk in the initial days, the Tripura government has taken initiatives to institute breast milk banks at GB Pant Hospital (GBP) and Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGM).

GBP Hospital is the main referral hospital of the case while IGM Hospital is a tertiary health care centre located in Agartala and is equipped with many modern facilities. However, this hospital is mainly preferred for postnatal care and pregnancy-related treatments.

Speaking on the issue, Rogi Kalyan Samiti Chairman of IGM hospital, also a noted gynecologist Dr Dilip Kumar Das said, “We always advise new mothers to breastfeed their newborns as it is the best thing for the child in the initial days. But in certain critical cases, mothers fail to breastfeed the newborn babies due to several health complexities. Taking note of that, a breast milk bank is being set up here at the IGM Hospital for comprehensive lactation management.”

Explaining the concept, Das said, “Breast milk banks are almost similar to blood banks. Milk will be collected from new mothers who for some reason can’t breastfeed their children. We see in premature deliveries the babies fail to suck the breast milk. Similarly, if a baby dies, the mother does not stop lactating immediately. So milk will be collected from them and preserved through processing.”   

Das also said that the whole process would be purely scientific. “Several advanced machines will be installed very shortly for preservation of the collected milk. Appropriate measures will be taken for preservation and samples of all the milk stored will be examined through a number of clinical tests to ascertain its safety,” he added.

He also informed that the Eastern India SSKM Hospital in Kolkata has this facility after which the second one is being set up at IGM Hospital. “Proposals have also been made for another breast milk bank in GBP Hospital and it has also been approved. Both the projects will be completely funded by the Central Government,” he added. 

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