Baby home makes urgent appeal for breast milk
There is one thing which money cannot buy - breast milk.
THE La Lucia Baby House, situated in Durban North has sent out a plea for breast milk. The home houses babies who are temporarily placed while a social worker seeks a permanent home for the infants.
It is run by Sheila Collins and her team of care givers. And while the care facility, with financial assistance from patrons, has been able to purchase the equipment to create a healthy space for the babies, there is one thing which money cannot buy – breast milk.
But a local resident, Cathryn Aylett who has been the only one donating milk to the infants, said she was on a mission to increase the supply of milk for the babies. Her aim, together with Collins, is to establish a sustainable supply of breast milk.
“Donating was not as complicated as I thought,” said Cathryn – herself a mother for the first time.
“You fill out the screening form – which is available off the Baby House’s website. Go for an HIV test which I took at a Dischem. That only cost R65 and it took two minutes. Then I submitted my donation with the form to Sheila who registered me and took care of everything else.”
‘Everything else’ is the processing of the milk, which includes pasteurisation and sending a sample of the donation to a lab where it is tested. Once cleared, only then can the milk be used.”
Cathryn and Sheila are ambitious in their desire to establish a milk bank with an easy-to-use donation system. Currently they have seven women from around the country who are willing to donate but getting milk from places as far away as Johannesburg and Pretoria present transport and logistical problems.
They hope to get more mothers from Durban to donate. “I am basically feeding two babies,” Cathryn said about donating. “But it is not an inconvenience. After I feed my son I express milk into a jar which I freeze, after placing it in the fridge for three hours. I just do this until the jar is full and then I send it to Sheila.”
To find out how you can get involved visit https://babyhouse.org.za/ or call Cathryn Aylett at 078 059 3870.
