Jammu, July 7: The first ever Comprehensive Lactation Management Centre (CLMC), commonly known as the human milk bank, will be made operational at a government hospital here by the year-end, an official said on Monday.
The CLMC will help with better management of sick, underweight, and premature newborn children, the official said.
The facility is being built for Rs 47.20 lakhs at the government maternity and child care hospital in the Gandhi Nagar area of Jammu after the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare approved the project under the National Health Mission last year.
“The space for the CLMC is identified on the third floor of the hospital and we received the funds last month, having a component for the Public Works Department for some construction work, equipment, and machinery. There will be the recruitment of manpower, including doctors, counselors, and managers to run the milk bank properly,” Medical superintendent of the hospital Arun Sharma told PTI.
He said the standard operating procedure (SOP) is already laid by the government for the smooth and successful functioning of the human milk bank which will be ready by the year-end.
The Gandhi Nagar hospital is already running a state-of-the-art 150-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and taking the load of Sri Maharaja Gulab Singh (SMGS) maternity hospital.
“SMGS and Gandhi Nagar are the only hospitals in Jammu division having advanced NICU facilities. The start of the human milk bank will help better manage new-born babies who remain ill or their mothers cannot breastfeed them due to illness, infection or some other problems,” the doctor said, adding the requirement is mostly needed for sick, premature, and low birth weight babies.
Out of Rs 47.20 lakhs sanctioned funds, Rs 30.59 lakhs would be utilized for equipment, furniture, supplies, consumables, and maintenance costs for the establishment of the CLMC, while Rs 16.61 lakh is meant for the infrastructure.
Sharma said the milk bank will be run by voluntary donors like mothers having surplus milk or those who have lost their infants or undergone failed delivery.
“The milk will be collected, scientifically tested, and pasteurized at the bank and fed to infants,” he said.
Kanchan, a mother who has recently delivered a baby at the hospital, welcomed the setting up of the human milk bank and said such a facility will be highly beneficial for newborns whose mothers could not feed them at birth.“There is no alternative to mother’s milk,” she said.
