Srivastava Group: Human Milk Bank 1.0
rivastava Group's milk bank initiative saves lives of scores of newborns
We all know the importance of Human Breast Milk. It is one of the best foods for newborns as it provides optimal nutrition, reduces the risk of illnesses, and promotes normal growth and better long-term development. It is also easier to digest, and it's full of nutrients, natural immunities, growth factors, hormones, protective antibodies, and enzymes that help for digestion. This milk is very important, especially for low-weight or preterm babies who run a higher risk of infection. But not all mothers can breastfeed or express milk to give to their babies, especially if their deliveries were unplanned caesareans or the mothers were ill.
Breast milk is life saving for premature and sick babies as their immature digestive system is prone to feeding intolerance. They are also at risk of developing a life-threatening condition known as 'necrotising enterocolitis', an intestinal disease among premature babies. Mothers of preterm babies can have trouble providing breast milk, especially in the initial days, due to a variety of reasons. In full-term infants with medical conditions such as heart disease and gastrointestinal malformations, the use of breast milk offers protection from infections and reduces feeding intolerance.
Srivastava Group's Community Milk Bank initiative, run by Amaara Human Milk Bank is a non-profit organisation that focuses on providing donor milk to high-risk neonatal babies and new-born whose mothers have had lactation failure. This is an of its kind initiative by the Breast Milk Foundation which is a part of the Srivastava group. Under this initiative, Breast Milk Foundation (BMF) facilitates high-risk neonates admitted in the neonatal unit with Human milk. This is the first public human milk bank located in Delhi-NCR and Bangalore, which provides human milk to premature or critically ill babies in the Hospitals.
