Mangaluru: The Rotary Amrut Human Milk Bank will be inaugurated at the Government Lady Goschen Hospital in the City on Saturday March 5 at 4.00 pm. With this, the country’s 9th such centre has been established.
Consultant Paediatrician at Government Wenlock Hospital Dr. U. V. Shenoy proposed the initiative first to Rotary. Dr. Shenoy was able to convince the Rotary club to take up this life-saving project. Once collected, milk can be stored for up to six months.
Dr. B. Shantharam Baliga, a Consultant Paediatrician who was in charge of establishing the NICU unit at Lady Goschen Hospital, has guided the Project Manager and team through the entire process. Dr. Sreenath Manikanti of Bengaluru’s Amara Milk Bank trained the Human Milk Bank’s staff on operational procedures and controls.
The project’s cost is estimated to be roughly Rs. 35 lakh, with funds provided by Rotary District 3181 and overseas partners RI District 6540, RI District 6600, Rotary Club of Kentland, and New Tampa Noon Rotary Club, who are all from the USA.
“In high-risk cases, one challenge that the medical profession faces is the availability of mother’s milk after delivery of premature babies. In order to address this challenge, Rotary Club of Mangaluru took up the project of setting up ‘Human Milk bank’ in the hospital, where through this facility, it is possible to store the donor human milk and feed the same to the high-risk newborn and also to babies, whose mothers have lactation failure. Feeding fresh human milk, not only save lives but also improves the health of such prematurely born babies. Other applications of the Human Milk Bank are multiple, and are of great help in reducing Neonatal mortality rate,” stated the press release.
Deputy Commissioner Dr. Rajendra K.V., Medical Superintendent Dr. Durgaprasad and RMO Dr. Balakrishna of the Lady Goschen Hospital have extended their support for this project.
The programme will be inaugurated by Rotary District Governor A. R. Ravindra Bhat in the presence of Mangaluru South MLA Vedavyas Kamath, Mangaluru North MLA Dr. Bharath Shetty, President of Rotary Club of Mangaluru Sudhir Jalan and others.
Image by Sarah Chai
