Human Milk Bank opens in Hanoi
VNS -
(VOVWORLD) - The National Pediatrics Hospital officially opened its Human Milk Bank on Tuesday with the support of the Ministry of Health and the Government of Ireland, Alive & Thrive and Newborns Vietnam.
This is the first Human Milk Bank in Hanoi, which will provide donated breast milk for more than a thousand at-risk babies treated at the National Pediatrics Hospital, who are temporarily unable to access their own mothers’ milk.
Studies show that for vulnerable infants, in comparison to commercial milk formula, pasteurised human donor milk can reduce the possibility of infections during the first 28 days of the neonatal period by 19 per cent, decrease hospitalisations by 15 days, and shorten the intravenous feeding time by 10 days.
 A 26-week premature baby is spoon-fed with pasteurized breastmilk from the Human Milk Bank as her mother temporarily does not have enough milk. — Photo courtesy of the hospital |
Since October 2021, the Human Milk Bank has received over 600 litres of donated human milk from 38 mothers whose infants were undergoing treatment at the hospital.
The Human Milk Bank at the National Pediatrics Hospital is among seven Human Milk Banks and satellite Human Milk Banks currently in operation in Vietnam.
VNS