Nepal's First Breast Milk Bank Helps Newborn Babies Survive

Nepal's first-ever Human Milk Bank, 'Amrit Kosh,' is a step towards providing baby-friendly health care to low birthweight, premature, and other at-risk newborns. It helps infants with access to breastmilk at the most critical times.

The initiative in Kathmandu, funded by UNICEF, the government of Nepal, and other partners, provides hundreds of babies with the nutrition they require to survive and develop. Funding cuts, however, have put plans to grow the services and help more babies in need on hold.

Over 15 million premature babies are born each year worldwide. Nepal and other lower-middle-income nations are estimated to have 81,000 premature births annually. Premature babies or those with low birth weight are considerably more at risk of dying during the first month of life.

Sarita Khatri Tamang, a new mother, has been unable to breastfeed while she recovers following a C-section delivery in the Paropakar Maternity and Women's Hospital's Kangaroo Mother Care unit in Kathmandu.

Her infant, however, is not left behind because she can get breast milk from other mothers through the hospital's Amrit Kosh. Sushila Nagarkoti is one of the mothers who have contributed to the Kathmandu Milk Bank, Forbes reported.

The milk bank is a component of an integrated lactation management centre that the Nepal government founded in 2022 with support from UNICEF and the European Union.

The facility ensures that critically unwell neonates, many of whom were born prematurely, receive the right nutrition. The next best thing to a mother's own milk is donated breast milk, which supports about 500 newborns each month.

"Human breast milk is the best source of nutrition and guarantees a baby's survival and healthy development," said Dr Bibek Kumar Lal, Director of the Ministry of Health and Population's Family Welfare Division.

According to Dr Lal, breast milk supports brain development and benefits both the mother and the child for the rest of their lives.

However, plans to establish or expand similar lactation management units in hospitals throughout Nepal have hit a roadblock due to recent financial shortages, impacting UNICEF's capacity to support these projects.

Such constraints have also affected other important UNICEF-supported programs, such as counselling and breastfeeding support.

Breastfeeding is the healthiest nourishment for babies, particularly during the first six months of life. It is also essential in preventing infections and malnourishment in newborns who are at risk.

Exclusive breastfeeding could avert 13 per cent of the annual deaths of children under five globally. In addition to nursing exclusively, early breastfeeding initiation during the first hour of life can reduce the number of newborn fatalities globally by 22 per cent.