New effort to set up four human milk banks in Dhaka

On August 31, 2021, Family Health International, or FHI 360, a US-based organization, requested approval from the Directorate General of Health Services to establish the milk banks. While many women, for a variety of reasons, are unable to produce breast milk, many newborns lose their moms before delivery. Some people make so little milk that it is not enough for the baby. A human milk bank where mothers can give breast milk is the solution for these newborns.

The newborn unit of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka Shishu (Children’s) Hospital, Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital, and the Institute of Child and Mother Health or ICMH in Matuail are the locations where FHI 360 aims to establish the milk banks. According to a 2019 DGHS survey, Bangladesh has a newborn death rate of 16 per 1,000 live births. Currently, when a baby loses their mother or she is unable to produce milk due to factors like medicine or specific medical disorders, hospitals or families ask other breastfeeding mothers to donate milk. Lack of breastfeeding is one of four factors leading to newborn fatalities in Bangladesh, according to Dr. Gazi Masum Ahmed, a consultant with FHI 360. If these infants are breastfed, half of them can be rescued.

The ICMH had requested authorization to establish a milk bank two years prior, but the plan was shelved because of resistance from certain fervent Islamists. A milk bank was opposed by the hardliners because they believed it may lead to marriages between persons who had drunk the same woman’s milk, which is against Islamic law. A group of Islamists objected to the IMCH in Matuail opening a milk bank in December 2019 despite importing machinery from overseas. They additionally gave the institute a legal notice. However, a different set of Islamic scholars claimed that before making a conclusion, the matter should first be debated.

Source: bdnews24.com