Quang Nam launches satellite breast milk bank

Connected with the breast milk bank at Da Nang city’s Hospital for Women and Children, the satellite bank in Quang Nam will collect, sterilise, test and preserve donated mother’s milk and provide it to disadvantaged infants.

It began distributing pasteurized breast milk from the breast milk bank in Da Nang on July 30 and will start collecting raw breast milk from donating mothers from December 1 2020.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Kieu Trinh, Head of the Obstetrics Department under Quang Nam Provincial General Hospital, said that the hospital will coordinate with Da Nang city’s Hospital for Women and Children to operate a cold chain to guarantee the quality of pasteurised breast milk during transportation.

A system will also be activated to ensure tracking and tracing of breast milk donated at the main breast milk bank as well as that received by infants at the satellite bank.

The establishment of the satellite bank in Quang Nam is expected to popularise the positive effects of pasteurised breast milk on premature and low birth-weight infants who need donated breast milk in their early days following birth.

According to the Director of the Quang Nam provincial Department of Health Mai Van Muoi, the province hopes that 21 local public and private hospitals will meet the criteria on breastfeeding practices so that all babies born in the province will receive the benefits of breast milk from the beginning of their life.