Govt formed lactation centres for sick, preterm & low-birth weight babies: MoS
New Delhi, July 26: The Union government established lactation centres to ensure the availability of safe, pasteurised donor human milk for feeding sick, preterm, and low birth weight babies, said Anupriya Patel, Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Friday.
“The government has established Comprehensive Lactation Management Centres (CLMC) to ensure availability of safe, pasteurised donor human milk and lactation management unit (LMU) for facilitating the expression of mother’s milk, for feeding of sick, preterm and low birth weight babies admitted in intensive care units such as neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and special newborn care unit (SNCU),” Patel said.
She said that in FY 2023-24, there were about 52 CLMCs and 50 LMUs operational across the country.
Breast milk is essential for newborns as it provides all the necessary nutrients for their growth and development. In addition, it also has a protective effect against the risk of illnesses such as pneumonia, diarrhoea, and other chronic conditions such as asthma, allergies, childhood obesity, diabetes, and heart diseases in adult life.
Breast milk acts as life saviours for sick newborns admitted to intensive care units. It also has a preventive effect on prematurity related morbidities such as late onset sepsis, broncho pulmonary dysplasia chronic lung disease necrotising enterocolitis intestinal disease in premature babies, and retinopathy disease of the eye.
In May, the country’s top food safety body the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a directive to all states to stop granting licences for the sale or processing of human milk. “All activities related to the commercialisation of human milk and its products should be immediately stopped,” it said while strictly prohibiting the sale or any commercial activity involving human milk.
The regulator warned that it should only be used to feed newborns or infants in health facilities.
