A breast milk bank of international standards will be established at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tu Du Hospital (Illustrative photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – A breast milk bank of international standards will be established at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tu Du Hospital, announced Assoc. Prof., Dr Tang Chi Thuong, Deputy Director of the municipal Health Department, on August 17.
The establishment, the first of its kind in HCM City, is set to open in the first quarter of 2019, with the support of the FHI 360, a non-profit organisation on human development.
As one of the leading obstetrics and gynaecology hospitals of the city, Tu Du Hospital handles about 66,000 birth cases annually. Among those, there are hundreds of premature babies who are fed on infant formula due to a shortage of breast milk.
In face of this, the hospital put forward its plan to set up a breast milk bank in 2016, hoping to provide safe and nutritious human milk to save at-risk infants.
Thuong noted that the human milk bank must closely follow strict requirements on equipment and operation, in accordance with international standards. He also affirmed the significant role of nursing mothers in the city who ensure stable supply of milk for newborns.
The bank is hoped to be part of the network of breast milk banks in Southeast Asia and the world over, he added.-VNA
