QC Breast milk Bank Opens On Monday

Quezon City is leading all other local government units in maternal and child care advocacies.

            On Monday (March 23), the QC government will open up its human milk bank at the city-owned QC General Hospital (QCGH) to support children in the city who are in need of breastmilk. The beneficiaries will include infants born with prematurity, malabsorptions, feeding intolerance, immunologic deficiencies, congenital anomalies and post-operative surgical conditions.    

            Mayor Herbert Bautista and Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte will lead city officials at the project launch, which is ably assisted by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

            The establishment of the QC human milk bank, an offshoot of an ordinance principally authored by Councilor Aly Medalla in 2012, underscores the importance of breastmilk in promoting adequate nutrition to babies and in the treatment of conditions associated with prematurity and other neonatal illnesses.

     

            Mothers who wish to donate their breast milk must be willing to undergo interview and blood test.

            As provided under the Medalla ordinance, the QC human milk bank shall be operated on a non-profit basis but a minimal processing fee maybe charged to cover for the screening, processing and administrative costs.

            Republic Act 10028, otherwise known as the Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009, encourages the setting up of milk banks in all government and private health institutions. 

           

            As defined, a human milk bank is an institution established solely for the purpose of collecting, screening, processing, storing and distributing donated human milk to recipients who are not the biological offspring of the donor mothers.

            Aside from the milk bank, QC also operates a breastfeeding station within the city hall compound and encourages all establishments in the city to provide a venue for employees and visitors to nourish their babies.  This is also part of the city’s campaign to promote breast-feeding among mothers, and even in workplaces.