Mother’s milk is an important source of nutrients for a child, from birth till at least two years of age. The nutrients that this milk provides are not found in any other substitute. Hence, it is important for infants to get access to their mother’s milk as soon as they are born.
However, there are times when either the baby or the mother could be suffering from some complications, thus making it difficult to breastfeed the child. What would one do in such a case? IAS officer Amit Kumar Panchal found a solution, about which he talked candidly with Indian Masterminds.
BREAST MILK PUMP BANK
To ensure that newborns get breastmilk in the first hour of birth, the Ludhiana district administration has set up a breast milk pump bank in the premises of the Mother and Child section in the Civil Hospital. Now infants can receive essential nutrients, antibodies, and other factors from breastmilk which are crucial for their proper growth and development.
“The bank is the first of its kind in Punjab and has been in operation for a month now. Health workers pump out the breastmilk and give it to the newborns who are unable to latch on properly to the milk or the mothers have severe pain, swelling, soreness, or other medical reasons for which adequate milk is not available for the baby and crucial breastfeeding within the first hour of birth does not happen,” said Mr. Panchal.
The hospital has a dedicated room for the purpose, filled with all the required machinery and storage containers for breast milk pumping. In case a child is facing some complications and is in NICU, or the mother is unable to physically breastfeed the child, they can take the pump from the room, sterilize it, use it, and feed their child through it.
“After they are done, they can give the pump back to the room and the helpers will sterilize it. A refrigerator is also kept in the room to store the extra milk,” Mr. Panchal informed.
IDEA CAME FROM HOME
Posted as the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) in Ludhiana, Mr. Panchal shared how he got the idea to open a breast milk pump bank.
He told Indian Masterminds that he got the idea from his home. “My wife gave birth to twins last year amidst the pandemic. With twins, there is always a struggle of feeding as both require adequate nutrients at the same time. If one is fed, the other also wants it, which becomes difficult. I saw my wife struggle with this a lot. She had to pump out milk and store it for the kids. The idea to open this bank actually came from there.”
The officer’s baby girl had to be kept in neonatal ICU for a week when she was born and had to be given pumped-out breast milk for that period. The incident made Mr. Panchal realize that just like his own daughter, there may be several other infants with birth complications who may require stored milk. That’s how he decided to open a breast milk pump bank in the biggest government hospital of Ludhiana.
GOOD TEAMWORK
The IAS officer’s team comprising of Deputy Commissioner Virendra Sharma, IAS trainee officer Dr. Harjinder Singh Bedi, Ms. Mamta Ashu, Dr. Kiran, and other medical staff extended all possible help and cooperation to set up the bank.
Being a new father, Mr. Panchal already had an idea of manual pumps, mechanical pumps, storage bottles, sterilizers, etc., and knew how these things work. His newly gained experience in the field of parenthood proved to be of help for all new parents.
