Pune: Noble Hospitals, Rotary Club Open Human Milk Bank to Support Infant Health
Hadapsar, 27th June 2024: Noble Hospitals and Research Centre in association with Rotary Club of Pune Synergy today inaugurated Human Milk Bank to support premature babies and mothers who are unable to breastfeed.
The Human Milk Bank was inaugurated at the hands of veteran well-known actress and producer Shweta Shinde, Rtn. Manjoo Phadke, District Governor, Rotary Dist.3131, Rtn. Shital Shah,District Governor Elect, Rtn. Sonam Thakur, President, Rotary Club of Pune Synergy along with Dr.Dilip Mane, Chairman and Managing Director Noble Hospitals and Research Centre ,Dr.HK Sale, Executive Director, Dr Divij Mane, Director, Dr. P D Pote, Director, Department Of Pediatrics , Dr. Abhay Mahindre, Director Neonatology, Dr. Mangesh Lingayat, Director, Dept. of Ophthalmology, Dr. Pradeep Suryawanshi, Neonatologist, Dr. Anil Khamkar, Neonatologist and others were present on the occasion.
Rtn. Dr. Archana Shingavi and Rtn. Neeraj Panchal have made significant efforts to establish a human milk bank at Noble Hospitals and Research Centre.
Breast Milk is extreme importance to babies as it provides nutritional requirements, helps in neuro development, protects against common childhood diseases and can help baby from possible adult diseases in future like diabetes, etc. According to WHO, the first 2 years of a child’s life are particularly important, as optimal nutrition during this period lowers morbidity and mortality, reduces the risk of chronic disease, and fosters better development overall.
Well-known actress and producer Shweta Shinde congratulated Noble Hospital and Rotary Club of Pune Synergy for this initiative and said that this will be extremely useful for pre-term babies and their overall well-being.
Dr. Abhay Mahindre, Director Neonatology at Noble Hospitals and Research Centre said that the Human Milk Bank will be boon especially for pre-mature or babies requiring neonatal care. Human milk has a significant impact on the well-being of infants, especially premature babies. The State-of-the-art Human Milk Bank will be catering to the needs of Eastern Pune and will collect, screen, store and distribute human milk for babies in need with thorough quality and safety checks. The milk received from donor mothers is tested at the milk bank for infections, then pasteurized and sent to deep freezer. The Human Milk is strongly supported by expert lactation consultant Dr. Sangeeta Kharate.
Dr Mahindre added that Breast Milk is of crucial importance for any child. Formula feed is not an option. Apart from premature babies, the human milk bank will also be of crucial importance in cases where the mother is unable to breastfeed properly or babies with issues like cleft palate, cleft lips etc. If a mother is unable to breastfeed, we try to find out the reasons, address them with breastfeeding, expression techniques or medications. If sufficient milk is still not produced, then human milk has to be given to the babies.
Dr.Dilip Mane, Chairman and Managing Director Noble Hospitals and Research Centre said the state-of-the-art Human Milk Bank is a part of our continuous process of expansion of our services aimed at the overall well-being of patients and people at large. He added that this is the seventh human milk bank in Pune and the first in eastern Pune.
