Got Milk?
Dr Jyothi Shinte, Mumbai
Working mothers often find it hard to go back to duty when their babies are left at home to be fed with some alternative diet, as the babies need human breast milk until they are six months old. The benefits of feeding breast milk include; lowered risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), increased intelligence, decreased likelihood of contracting middle ear infections, cold, and flu bugs, a tiny decrease in the risk of childhood leukemia, lower risk of childhood diabetes, decreased risk of asthma and eczema, decreased dental problems, decreased risk of obesity later in life, and decreased risk of developing psychological disorders.
Breastfeeding also provides health benefits for the mother. For example, it assists the uterus in returning to its pre-pregnancy size and reduces bleeding, as well as assisting the mother in returning to her pre-pregnancy weight. Breastfeeding also reduces the risk of breast cancer later in life.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life.
Every working moms now know that their babies need breast milk till they are six months old. Breast milk can boost the immunity of the child and can make it more healtheir, more intelligent and more robust. But when the time comes for the mothers to report back to duty after the maternity leave, they find it hard to supplement the diet of their babies.
If the mom is producing enough breast milk she can even collect her won breast milk and preserve it for the day-to-day usage of her baby even if she is away from home. Breast milking pumps and breast milk freezing bags make it a possibility for them now.
Milk banksBut back in India, the concept of Milk Bank is yet to catch on, leave alone milking one's own milk and keeping it refrigerated for her baby when she is not at home. Most working mothers are now learning how to milk their own breast milk and preserve it in their home refrigerators. The availablity of Breast Milk Pumps and Breast Milk Freezing Bags are also opened up new possibilites for the new generation working mothers.
But resorting to a Milk Bank for human breast milk when a young mother is not producing enough milk to feed her child or if she cannot breast-feed her baby due to some medical reasons, is still in doubt. If ever such a Milk Bank is there how many working mothers would openly allow their babies drink human breast milk from its collections? However a Milk Bank in Mumbai, India do supply human breast milk for needy babies since 1989. But how many mothers do know of this?
If the attitude of the society changes it can do good to many of the working mothers ease their tension of leaving their baby to switch to alternative diets while they are at work. Also it could help those mothers who are incapable of breast feeding their new-borns.
Storing Extracted Breast Milk at HomeRight now the only alternative for working mothers is to milk their own breast milk using breast milk pumps and keep them preserved in their refrigerators for their babies. Normally expressed breast milk can be stored for later use. It is recommended that the milk is stored in hard-sided containers with airtight seals. Some plastic bags specifically manufactured for the storage of expressed breast milk are designed for storage periods of less than 72 hours - others can be used for up to 6 months if frozen. At room temperature, breast milk can be stored up to 6 to eight hours. In refrigerator, it can be kept safe for about five days. (Breast Milk Storage)
If the working mother is willing to learn more about how to keep breast milk preserved and the techniques of storing their own milk, there are a lot of websites in the internet that tell one how to do it all.
In India the existance of a Milk Bank is available. Please check out Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General hospital (Mumbai)
Note: Newswatch would appreciate the details of the existance of any Human Milk Banks in Kerala. Any reader who is aware of such a bank in Kerala or elsewhere in India may kindly let us know of it. We would publish details here for the sake of plenty of working mothers in India.
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