QUEZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista is calling for the support of all lactating mothers to donate breast milk to the city’s human milk bank.
Lactating mothers who wish to donate their milk can visit the Quezon City General Hospital or any of the seven lying-in centers—San Francisco, Batasan Hills, Betty Go-Belmonte, Murphy, Kamuning, Arsenia Maximo and Sta. Lucia, he said.
Bautista launched the human milk bank on March 23, 2015 as a collaborative effort of the city government, along with the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and other partners advocating breastfeeding.
“The effort is important. The objective of the Quezon City human milk bank is to provide [breast] milk to children, who badly need it, such as toe the babies at the intensive care unit or in critical condition. Breastmilk is the best food for babies,” bank’s executive director Dr. Catherine Reportoso said.
Ten percent of the collected pasteurized human milk is being stored for distribution during calamities, she said.
“Mothers who volunteer to donate milk are those who have more than enough milk,” she said.
Milk donors must undergo interview and blood screening to check their eligibility in donating safe and healthy breast milk.
As of 2016, a total of 1,191 eligible donors have donated milk representing an increase of 89 percent compared to 629 milk donors in 2015.
The milk bank managed to collect 98,854 milliliters in its seven milk depots and from the milk-letting activities conducted by the health department.
In 2016, 151 babies in public and private hospitals benefitted from the milk stored in the city’s human milk bank.
