ZAMBOANGA CITY - Nursing mothers are encouraged to donate breast milk to the milk bank so that more infants can benefit from it especially the pre-term babies and the critically ill infants, as donating human milk can save lives.
The milk collected from the mothers goes through a process called pasteurization. Pasteurized milk can be stored in the freezer for 6 to 12 months and is given to sick babies in the Zamboanga City Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) who need nutrient-rich and naturally healing breast milk.
The Milk Bank
The Milk Bank was established in 2013 at the Zamboanga
City Medical Center through a grant from the United Nations International Children
Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in 2011 facilitated by then house deputy speaker and
first district representative and now City Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar.
It is the first human milk bank facility outside Metro Manila.
Milk letting in 35 barangays
The National Nutrition
Council (NCC) during its recent meeting reported that milk letting activities
were conducted in the 35 baragays of the city, and as a result, a total of 63,940
ml of breast milk was collected from donor-mothers.
Milk Bank vision
The milk bank, which aims to reduce childhood
mortality, was established to provide optional nutrition to newborns.
Human breast milk provides infants compelling
nutritional immunoprotective, neurodevelopmental, psychological, social and
environmental benefits.
Human milk is also rich in nutrients and
non-nutritional bioactive components that cannot be replicated by artificial
formula. So, for infants who do not have access to their own mother’s milk,
donor milk can be lifesaving.
Who can donate
Eligible to donate breast milk are mothers who
are in good general health and able to breastfeed, currently nursing a baby
less than one year old, willing to have a blood test to rule out certain
diseases, those who are not using medication or herbal supplements, and those
who have no history of kidney disease and/or tissue transplant.
Disqualified to donate are users of prohibited
drugs, alcoholics, smokers, those tested positive for HIV 1 & 2, and those
exposed to recent diagnostic, therapeutic, and environmental radiation.
