Jaipur, June 30 (IANS): After the successful launch of a mother's milk bank in Rajasthan's Udaipur city, another such bank will be opened in Jaipur soon by Inaya Foundation, an NGO.
Work is on to finalise the area for the bank in a government hospital in Jaipur city.
The Inaya Foundation recently gave a presentation on the milk bank to the medical and health department officials. It is one of the non-government organisations which will run the milk bank in Jaipur.
The first mother's milk bank in Udaipur was inaugurated in April 2013.
The Divya Mothers Milk Bank in Udaipur has provided 5,120 units of milk so far to infants in need and whose biological mothers were unable to feed them. Each unit contains 30 ml of mother's milk.
The milk was donated by 666 mothers and saved the lives of at least 459 infants. Such banks are also functioning in Pune, Surat, Mumbai and Kolkata.
"Mother's milk can save the life of an infant. It is like giving blood to an accident victim who needs it immediately," Inaya Foundation's secretary Nitisha Sharma told IANS.
She said the milk bank will become operational soon after the hospital administration gives its approval.
A hospital official said the proposal has been sent to the state government.
"Space for the milk bank in the hospital will be provided soon after the government approves it," said the official.
A survey conducted by the Rajasthan government found that 42 percent of newborns in the state were undernourished and needed mother's milk, and with the opening of this bank many lives can be saved, said Inaya Foundation vice president Jeetender Nigam.
Through breast feeding and donating mother's milk, infant mortality rate can be reduced by 22 percent. If a child is breastfed, its chances of survival increase six times, said Devendra Agrawal, founder of the Maa Bhagwati Vikas Sansthan, an NGO that runs the milk bank in Udaipur.
Nitisha Sharma said she was hopeful of opening the milk bank in the next couple of months.
But before a mother donates milk, she has to undergo a blood test and even her milk is tested for the presence of any bacteria in it, said Rajender Mishra, advisor of Inaya Foundation.