The ‘Vatsalya - Maatri Amrit Kosh’, a National Human Milk Bank and Lactation Counselling Centre was inaugurated at the Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) in New Delhi.
This centre would be the largest public sector human milk bank and lactation counselling centre available in North India.
“Vatsalya - Maatri Amrit Kosh” has been established in collaboration with the Norwegian government, Oslo University and Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI).
Vatsalya - Maatri Amrit Kosh will collect, pasteurize, test and safely store milk donated by lactating mothers and make it available for infants in need.
With the establishment of this donor human milk bank, all newborns in and around Delhi will have access to life saving human milk irrespective of the circumstances of their birth.
The centre will protect, promote and support breastfeeding by providing lactation support to mothers with the help of dedicated lactation counsellors.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also launched Mothers Absolute Affection (MAA) programme to create awareness regarding breastfeeding among mothers for enhancing the child’s immunity.
The facility will act as a dedicated centre to support breastfeeding and improve infant survival.
The centre will serve as teaching, training and demonstration site for other milk banks that will be established under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
