First Provincial Day of Human Milk Donation held in Corrientes, Argentina

Corrientes has had a Human Milk Bank (BLH) since October 2018. Last Friday, the BLH organized the First Provincial Day of Human Milk Donation, an activity that included the participation of more than 200 people and 46 institutions linked to the Taragüí Provincial Collection Network and Breastfeeding Centers.

After that initiatory meeting (which included panels, talks and presentations), epoch spoke with the Bank’s coordinator, Luis Azula, who graphed what he left behind that day and outlined future goals around that area.

“It was a very enriching experience, all the referents who presented their experiences within the network did so with incredible commitment. There were also donor and recipient mothers, officials, legislators, intermediate bodies, collaborating institutions and others who are going to join in the short term”, narrated the person in charge of the BLH.

In this context, he explained that “we received a commitment from the provincial government to continue supporting and promoting breastfeeding and the donation of human milk. For this, for example, there are bills that are under analysis by the Legislature. One of them is the creation of Spaces Friendly to Breastfeeding, which is close to being voted on in the Chamber of Deputies and we hope that before the end of the year the Senate will also give its endorsement”.

“This is a very important project that what it seeks is that in each place where there are women who work and are breastfeeding, they have an adequate physical space, conditioned to be able to express milk or breastfeed their baby during the working day,” he completed.

On the other hand, Azula remarked that “BLH continues to grow. The goal is to collect more than 1,200 liters of human milk per year. This volume will allow us to cover the nutritional needs of all premature infants in Corrientes, clarifying that our bank is the only one in the country that assists premature infants hospitalized both in the public and private systems”.

In this situation, he anticipated that a lactation center will be incorporated shortly that will be in the Corrientes Institute of Cardiology and also the Red Cross has also committed to join various projects supported by the BLH.

In a subsequent paragraph, he commented that, thanks to an agreement with Formosa, the BLH receives milk from mothers in that province, pasteurizes it and takes it back to that district to be administered to premature infants hospitalized in Formosa.

“We are very happy with the work done and with the possibility of continuing to increase our contribution to the community. I want to thank everyone for their support, but above all that of the donor mothers,” he concluded.

¿Why is it so important?

Human milk is essential for newborn babies because it provides them with adequate nutrients, in addition to stimulating the immune system and the growth of good bacteria, known as bifidobacteria, promoting neurodevelopment and reducing the prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases. .

The World Health Organization (WHO) not only recommends exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life, but also prolonged breastfeeding up to 2 years or more, together with the incorporation of complementary feeding.

This solidarity action is carried out through the nine Human Milk Banks, implemented in the country during the last 15 years: two in the province of Buenos Aires, located in La Plata and Berazategui, while the others are in Corrientes, Chaco , Córdoba, Mendoza, Neuquén, Río Negro and City of Buenos Aires.

“A Breast Milk Bank is a specialized service, responsible for the promotion, protection and support of breastfeeding. It carries out activities to collect surplus milk from the mother who breastfeeds, processes it, controls its quality, classifies it, preserves and distributes. In this way, they help save the lives of many premature babies who cannot be breastfed by their own mother. It also carries out research, as well as technological development, information and education activities,” described the Ministry of Health of the Nation.

nourish and save

“The consumption of human milk is very important since it is a living tissue, which contains nutrients and bioactive components that adapt to the needs and development of each child, whether newborn to term or preterm, and regardless of the how old he is,” said the nutritionist, María del Pilar Cancela Mourelle.

Nutritionists not only promote breastfeeding but also the donation of human milk.

Meanwhile, Mourelle indicated: “The need and importance of creating Human Milk Banks is to provide equity in health, since it gives the opportunity to receive the benefits of human milk, especially premature newborns, who for some reason cannot be fed with their own mother’s milk, or do not reach the volume required for their administration”.

Breast milk administration is effective in feeding newborns at risk, whether due to extreme prematurity, low birth weight, or a variety of other reasons.

Those born before 37 weeks of gestation are considered premature, there are extremes (less than 32 weeks), moderate (up to 35.6 weeks) and limits (36 weeks).