La Lucia Baby Home launches breast milk bank
Without the nourishment of breast milk, two of the premature babies in the home would not have survived.
HOPES were high as the La Lucia Baby House celebrated its third anniversary on Friday. In light of the milestone founders, Skip and Sheila Collins announced a new development within the crisis centre – the start of a breast milk bank for the babies in their care.
Two of the orphaned and abandoned babies who have been brought into the temporary haven have been premature babies. Gina and Gift both quickly deteriorated while being fed formula milk.
Only after Sheila was able to obtain breast milk did the two recover and start to flourish.
When four-week-old Gina came to the house, her condition quickly declined. Doctors diagnosed her with a condition known as ‘failure to thrive’. Only with breast milk was she able to recover.
Police found baby Gift abandoned in Umlazi. When he arrived at the home he was severely malnourished, weighing only 1.7 kilograms.
“He was grey and so thin and could not tolerate the formula milk. He would keep throwing it up. I quickly turned to some of my friends who were on maternity leave to gather some milk, and within a few days of feeding him breast milk he made an amazing turn around,” said Sheila.
“As much as they try and recreate breast milk with formula, there are some things that they can’t replicate from the goodness of a mother’s milk. It is essential for babies in the first few months of their lives. It is why it is known as ‘liquid gold’,” she added.
From 29 June the home will be equipped with the knowledge and technology to screen the donors and pasteurise the breast milk for the bank.
Noel Powell, an engineer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, developed the technology that would pasteurise the donated milk. He will be donating the technology to the home and training the staff.
Donors will be asked to do a HIV test before making a donation. Volunteers will be able to visit the mom at home where the tests can be done.
In its three years of operation, the baby house has cared for 26 orphaned and abandoned babies. The home currently has five babies in its care. A total of 16 of the babies have already been adopted and the rest have been reunited with their families.
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