The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in its budget 2023-24 has proposed the establishment of its first lactation management unit or “milk bank” at the Swami Dayanand Hospital. However, during the budget speech, the MCD commissioner did not elaborate on the planned project.
The Swami Dayanand Hospital (SDH) is located in east Delhi and is the only civic hospital in the region. A senior doctor at SDH said a detailed proposal on the modalities of setting up the “milk bank” will be sent to civic authorities by the hospital.
“It will essentially be a facility where mother’s milk can be stored at low temperatures, so that it can be used for babies in the future. It will be akin to a blood bank,” the doctor said.
Sharing the purpose of such a bank, he said at times, a child after birth may not be in a position to feed or may be admitted in an ICU. The idea is to store mother’s milk so that when a baby needs it, it is available if the mother is either not lactating or lactation level has gone down, the doctor said.
“In such a scenario, milk is collected using breast pumps by a mother, and it is then hygienically handled by a trained staff and carried to the designated milk bank. The AIIMS has such a facility,” he said.
