Human Milk Banking and Challenges in Quality Control

Excerpt

Every year 27 million babies are born in India of which 3.5 million are preterm and 7.5 million have low birth weight [1]. These neonates constitute a vulnerable cohort in terms of immediate survival and long term neurodevelopmental outcome. Human milk is both immunologically and nutritionally ideal for infants and is especially important for infants born premature in resource limited settings. In 2008, the World Health Organization called for promotion of safe use of donor milk delivered through human milk banks (HMBs) for vulnerable babies. However, scaling up this lifesaving intervention and integrating it with other components of newborn care has been challenging in lower and middle income countries like India. Though the first HMB of India was started in 1989 at Mumbai, the growth of HMBs has not been proportionate to the phenomenal increase in NICUs and preterm deliveries [2]. Nevertheless, there has been renewed interest in this area over the past few years and nearly 50 HMBs are operational in the country today. Though starting a HMB is relatively easy, sustaining voluntary milk donation and maintaining quality of donor human milk (DHM) are arduous tasks but essential. In this context, the research article on utility of dornic acid test for improving quality of DHM by Bhisikar et al. published in this issue of IJP gains importance [3]. …