During the period of its operation, the Bank managed to collect more than 700 litres thanks to the help of 72 donors.
For the second year in a row, the Breast Milk Bank has been operating at the Lviv Oblast Clinical Perinatal Centre.
“For prematurely born or weakened children, breast milk is not only nutritious food, but also medicine, as it has a special therapeutic value. Over the period of its operation, the Bank managed to collect more than 700 litres thanks to the help of 72 donors,” said Maria Malachinskaya, director of the Centre.
One of the record-breaking donors is Mariana Kazimirovich. The woman successfully fed her first child with breast milk, which was too much.
Mariana gave birth to her second child prematurely: at 28 weeks of pregnancy. The baby was admitted to the Centre’s neonatal anaesthesiology and intensive care unit and received donor milk for the first few days. But soon, the mother had more than enough milk to meet her child’s needs. So the woman became a breast milk donor.
Over the next 6 months, Mariana donated 78.5 litres of milk to the Bank.
To the point: More than 130 babies were provided with donor milk at Lviv Regional Clinical Hospital
The mother was provided with counselling and psychological assistance in establishing lactation by breastfeeding consultants from the perinatal centre.
To become a breast milk donor, a woman needs to have a good lactation, enough milk, and a desire to share the surplus with other babies.
To become a future donor, it is mandatory to undergo free tests for hepatitis B and C, HIV and syphilis.