Spreading the milk of human kindness: Sion hospital docs to help neighbouring states to set up mother's milk banks

Spreading the milk of human kindness: Sion hospital docs to help neighbouring states to set up mother's milk banks

Staff ReporterUpdated: Monday, October 07, 2019, 11:34 PM IST
article-image

Mumbai: Doctors from the neonatal department of the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, Sion, will now train their counterparts in neighbouring states, as well as the rest of Maharashtra to set up milk banks in their hospital premises.

This comes after the human breast milk bank at Sion was recognised as the zonal reference centre in the western region. “Since we are recognised now, it is our responsibility to train and guide doctors from neighbouring states - Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Goa, to set up facilities,” said Dr Swati Manerkar, assistant professor of the department.

The human milk bank at Sion hospital, established in 1989, is the oldest one in the state and Asia's first to be set up in a civic hospital. It was the brainchild of Dr Jayashree Mondkar, the then head of the department of neonatology.

Dr Manerkar said they have already trained two sets of doctors from Madhya Pradesh. The doctors were trained to maintain laboratory records, process the donated milk and creating awareness about the need for its donation. “We had conducted a three-day programme, where the doctors were taken around the milk bank and shown how to maintain hygiene and use pasteurisation to make it suitable for babies' consumption,” she said.

The training is done in three categories - the primary lactating support unit, secondary lactating management unit and the tertiary comprehensive centre. “The unit will be categorised according to the demand. But we would encourage district hospitals, which always have high footfall, to constitute tertiary centres which would be benefit more newborns,” she added.

RECENT STORIES

Mumbai Hit-And-Run: 38-Year-Old Toll Plaza Employee Crushed To Death By Overloaded Truck At Dahisar...

Mumbai Hit-And-Run: 38-Year-Old Toll Plaza Employee Crushed To Death By Overloaded Truck At Dahisar...

Mumbai Sessions Court Denies Anticipatory Bail To Coaching Class Teacher Accused Of Molesting...

Mumbai Sessions Court Denies Anticipatory Bail To Coaching Class Teacher Accused Of Molesting...

Mumbai News: Special PMLA Court Denies Bail To Builder In ₹764.44 Crore Bank Fraud And Money...

Mumbai News: Special PMLA Court Denies Bail To Builder In ₹764.44 Crore Bank Fraud And Money...

Mumbai News: Cox & Kings, Board Members Booked For ₹105.93 Crore Fraud In SBI Cards Corporate...

Mumbai News: Cox & Kings, Board Members Booked For ₹105.93 Crore Fraud In SBI Cards Corporate...

Maharashtra Politics: Uddhav And Raj Thackeray Reunite After 20 Years, Vow To Fight Together For...

Maharashtra Politics: Uddhav And Raj Thackeray Reunite After 20 Years, Vow To Fight Together For...