Odisha establishes first human milk bank in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: The first-ever human milk bank has been inaugurated at the pediatric unit of Capital Hospital.

It is the first such initiative while it is the 34th Comprehensive Lactation Management Centre (CLMC) in the country. The initiative by the National Health Mission (NHM) aims to cater to the needs of several newborns across the state.

“Many mothers fail to breastfeed their newborn baby for the initial few weeks due to various reasons like death, delivery complications among others. Milk from the milk bank can be used to feed the infants” shared Capital Hospital Director Dr Laxmidhar Sahu.

“The facility will store mother’s milk for six months after sterilization and will be supplied to hospitals across the state, if the need arises,” he informed.

Any lactating mother can voluntarily donate her excess milk, which can be used to feed infants who are unable to get breast milk, he added.