The Thapathali-based Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital, which has been running a human milk bank, is now providing breast milk to vulnerable infants born in other hospitals.
Doctors at the hospital said the purpose of the milk bank is to save infants' lives, regardless of where they are born.
“Human breast milk is required for vulnerable infants—those whose mothers died during or after giving birth, critically ill newborns in neonatal intensive care units, premature babies with low birth weights,” said Dr Shree Prasad Adhikari, director at the hospital. “We have been supplying breast milk to such infants in other hospitals, including Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Patan Hospital, Norvic Hospital, and B&B Hospital, among others.”
The human milk bank, launched some two years ago at the hospital, aims to reduce neonatal deaths, which remains constantly high. Since 2016, neonatal deaths have not declined, despite various measures implemented by health authorities.
Doctors say feeding low-weight babies and critically ill neonates in intensive care units can significantly reduce the risk of infections. The bank collects, tests, pasteurises and stores donor milk from lactating mothers.
“The milk is collected mostly from the mothers of ailing babies, who cannot breastfeed their infants admitted to the intensive care units,” said Dr Sailendra Bir Karmacharya, a senior consultant paediatrician of the hospital. “We provide milk only to infants weighing less than 1,000 grams.”
According to doctors, human breast milk contains the best source of nutrition and ensures the survival and healthy growth of babies. It bolsters brain development and has lifelong benefits for both the baby and the mother.
Karmacharya said that human milk helps in reducing necrotising enterocolitis (NEC), a serious gastrointestinal problem that mostly affects premature babies.
Officials said the hospital needs 1.5 to 2.5 litres of breast milk for babies admitted to the intensive care unit. The human milk bank collects milk directly from mothers of hospitalised babies, but it collects only surplus milk from other lactating mothers, which is then tested, pasteurised and stored at minus 40 degrees Celsius.
The government’s target for Sustainable Development Goals is to reduce neonatal mortality to 12 deaths per every 1,000 live births by 2030.
The SDGs, a follow-up on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), aim to end poverty, hunger, and all forms of inequality in the world by 2030. Nepal has committed to meeting the goals. The 16th five-year periodic plan, which ends in 2029, aims to reduce neonatal deaths to 13 from 21 per 1,000 live births.
The Ministry of Health and Population has launched various programmes, including hiring staff nurses to promote exclusive breastfeeding. Exclusive breastfeeding has the potential to prevent 13 percent of under-five deaths.
Studies show that Nepal's exclusive breastfeeding rate has steadily declined over the years. According to the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2022, exclusive breastfeeding dropped consistently from 70 percent in 2011 to 56 percent in 2021.
The report also showed that bottle-feeding practices started in health facilities. It stated that 22 percent of children born in a health facility receive mixed milk feeding (breast milk and fresh, packaged, or powdered animal milk or infant formula), compared to 12 percent of those born at home.
Bottle feeding is not recommended, as the nipple on a feeding bottle is prone to contamination and increases the risk of diseases in children, according to the World Health Organisation.
What concerns health officials is that more educated and well-off mothers are less likely to breastfeed their babies, as studies show.
The report shows that the proportion of children who are bottle-fed increases with mothers’ education, rising from 12 percent among children of mothers with no education to 49 percent among those whose mothers have more than a secondary education. Bottle-feeding is most common in the highest wealth quintile—46 percent—and least common in the lowest wealth quintile—11 percent.
Among the seven provinces of Nepal, exclusive breastfeeding rates are the highest in Sudurpaschim and Karnali provinces—74 percent each—and lowest in Lumbini Province—36 percent.
The proportion of children aged 0–5 months who are exclusively breastfed fluctuates across wealth quintiles. The proportion is highest in the lowest wealth quintile—64 percent—and lowest in the highest quintile—44 percent.
The proportion of children who are bottle-fed is higher in urban areas, 26 percent, than in rural areas, 15 percent. The use of a bottle with a nipple is lowest at 11 percent in Karnali Province, 12 percent in Madhesh Province and the highest at 43 percent in Bagmati Province.
Doctors recommend breastfeeding for the first two years of a baby’s life or longer, as breast milk lowers the risk of illness in children, promotes their recovery during illness, and provides important nutrients for healthy growth and development.
According to them, longer durations of breastfeeding have many health benefits for women, including reduced risks of certain breast and ovarian cancers and diabetes.
Nepal had committed to increasing the exclusive breastfeeding rate to more than 90 percent by 2030, but the rate declined from 70 percent in 2011 to 66 percent in 2016 and to 56 percent in 2022.
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