In News:

Payodhi, a human milk bank and lactation management centre at AIIMS, New Delhi, has emerged as a critical facility for premature and critically ill newborns in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Launched in September 2024, it provides pasteurised donor breast milk to newborns who require it due to medical conditions or where the mother cannot breastfeed.

Objectives:

• Provide Safe and Processed Human Milk: Ensures critically ill or premature infants receive the essential nutrients they need for survival, brain development, and immune system strengthening.
• Support Lactating Mothers: Provides counselling, milk donation, and storage facilities to lactating mothers, helping them contribute to milk banks if they have excess milk or cannot breastfeed.
• Free-of-Cost Service: The milk bank offers these services free of charge, ensuring equitable access to life-saving nutrition for vulnerable newborns.
• Global Standards: Payodhi follows guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Government of India on infant nutrition.

Significance:

• Lifesaving Nutrition: The use of donor milk reduces mortality risks in preterm babies, helping to prevent conditions like sepsis, necrotising enterocolitis (NEC), and retinopathy—common complications faced by premature infants.
• Prevents Milk Wastage: By utilising excess milk from donor mothers, Payodhi prevents the wastage of breast milk, which could otherwise be discarded.
• Support for Medical Conditions: The milk bank is crucial for infants whose mothers cannot produce sufficient milk due to medical reasons, such as pulmonary hypertension or those undergoing surgery.

Medical and Health Benefits of Donor Milk:

• Sepsis Reduction: Donor breast milk reduces the risk of sepsis by 19%, compared to formula feeding.
• Reduction in NEC: It significantly lowers the risk of necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) by 79%, a severe infection with a high mortality rate in premature infants.
• Improved Health Outcomes: Early initiation of breast milk within an hour of birth can reduce neonatal deaths by 22%. It also reduces feeding intolerance, vomiting, and shortens NICU stays.

Expansion and Reach:

Payodhi is one of around 90 milk banks in India, contributing to the nationwide effort to reduce neonatal deaths. AIIMS is working to expand its donor pool by reaching out to mothers whose babies have undergone surgery or those whose infants are in long-term NICU care. The milk bank also plans to reach out to working mothers, encouraging them to express and donate excess milk, benefiting both the infants and their own health.

Why Donating Milk is Beneficial:

Donating milk not only helps save newborns but also benefits the donor mothers by stimulating lactation and preventing milk suppression. The act of expressing milk helps maintain milk production, which is essential for the health of both the baby and the mother.