In two years, 50 babies received donor mother’s milk / Article

Elza Salputra, a neonatologist at the BKUS Mother’s Milk Bank, explained: “It was created with a lot of public support, realizing how important mother’s milk is for babies who do not have their own mother’s milk. Based on world experience, we see that we can replace our mother’s milk with the milk of another mother who has too much milk and who could share and help even the smallest babies to prevent some life-threatening diseases related to the fact that the baby is fed with inappropriate food, such as formula.”

Formula is not a suitable solution for all babies. During two years, 50 babies received milk from 55 donor mothers, a total of 130 liters.

“Some moms have their own experience stories from friends or have had a premature baby before, and they are very personally aware of this benefit. But mostly moms have an inner desire to help. Some moms just practically have a lot of milk, their freezer is already full, and then they think , where to put the milk,” explained the neonatologist.

Each bottle of milk handed over by a mother is tested in the laboratory, determining its composition.

“On the bottle we see the composition, which is very important. Small children need a lot of carbohydrates, fats and proteins,” the doctor explained.

Mother’s milk bank, celebrating its second birthday, invites new mothers to apply as milk donors. Salputra explained: “It’s best if it’s the first three months of the baby’s life. But we can definitely invite moms until their baby is six months old. Moms apply electronically. There’s an application form on our website. Then there’s a short interview about the mother’s state of health, about the baby’s growth , about bad habits, about diseases that mom might have. If everything is fine, mommy comes to us and gives blood tests.”

After that, the inventory is handed out, short training takes place and approximately once a month, a representative of the Children’s Hospital will come to the donor’s place of residence to pick up the milk.

The representative of BKUS said: “For us, the approximate trip we can complete is 20 kilometers around the borders of the Children’s Hospital. We can take mothers from outside Riga, who are on this side of the Daugava – Mārupe, Babīte. Sometimes we have to refuse mothers who are in Pierīga on that side of the Daugava .”

Elza Salputra hopes that in the future such Mother’s milk banks will be established in other cities of Latvia as well, in order to be able to help as many babies as possible.

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