Medical Questions & Answers

Question: What is meant by a milk bank?
It is the practice in many hospitals to store excess breast milk in sterilized glass bottles and preserve it in a refrigerator.
A mother who has delivered a still-born child may add her milk to this store. Mothers who need to extract excess milk before feeding the child so as to prevent hardening and engorgement of the breasts may also similarly donate the extra milk. Just as extra money is saved in the bank, so extra milk may be stored in a milk bank.
A mother who does not lactate satisfactorily or is in a serious condition following a Caesarean or for any other reason, or has undergone sterilization surgery simultaneously with the delivery could, instead of taking recourse to top milk (cow milk, buffalo milk or milk powders) give human milk stored in the “bank”. This milk can also be given to premature babies or very weak infants who need to be tube-fed.

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