Breast milk banks; Is Ghana ready?
A couple of weeks ago, a social media user shared freezers full of bagged breast milk she had expressed on her Instagram and Facebook pages.
The mother of two, Mrs Freda Obeng-Ampofo, who is currently breastfeeding her two-month-old baby, was looking for health facilities or families who needed breast milk for an orphaned baby or a newborn whose mother could not produce breast milk.
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On Facebook alone, her post was shared over 280 times, however, as of last Tuesday, she was yet to get a family or health facility to donate the milk to.
She told The Mirror in an interview earlier this week that at the time she shared her pictures, she had stored over 25,050 millilitres (25 litres) which she had expressed within five to six weeks.
The milk, she said, was extras she stored after breastfeeding her child.
She had a similar experience with her first child who she was delivered of in the United States of America (USA). With her first child, she was able to donate to a milk bank as there were breast milk banks in that country.
Breast milk banks
A breast milk bank is a service that collects, screens, processes and dispenses by prescription human milk donated by nursing mothers who are not biologically related to the recipient infant.
They offer a solution to mothers who cannot supply their own breast milk to their children.
No special diet
Mrs Obeng-Ampofo explained that in January 2020, she donated 663 ounces of breast milk to the Mother’s Milk Bank Northeast, USA and when she returned to Ghana, she donated her surplus milk to a caretaker of an orphaned child who reached out to her.
She said her high supply was natural as she didn’t have any special diet or supplements that boosted production of her breast milk.
“I am not on any special diet and I’m also not taking any herbs or medications, just the regular food that most of us eat such as jollof, red red, Kenkey, etc.”
Asked how she collected and labelled her milk, she explained that she used different breast pump machines to express and packaged them in sterilised breast milk bags.
Advocacy for breast milk banks
Mrs Obeng-Ampofo said she was advocating for such facilities in the country because there were many babies who needed breast milk and many mothers ready to donate.
“So from my little research here, I realised the demand and supply is there but it’s the process that must be put in place. I understand this process is quite complicated but it is needed and would be a lifesaver once we make it a priority. Many babies can be saved and lots of this “liquid gold” will not go to waste.”
“I haven’t found anyone to take the breast milk but I am hoping someone will come forward as my freezer is full and I need to make room for the ones I will pump later,” she said.
In an interview with The Mirror, Dr Gyikua Plange-Rhule, Head, Mother and Baby Unit, Department of Child Health at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, confirmed that currently, there are no such facilities in the country although they are very important.
She said it would be useful to have a safe supply of breast milk, especially in instances where the mother of a newborn was struggling to get enough milk.
She explained that in some advanced countries, there were milk banks that operated on different levels.
While some were for commercial purposes and paid donors, others were small units that collected milk from mothers with excess milk and donated to babies whose mothers did not have enough.
In both instances, she said the milk donated were screened, properly documented and labelled before given out to families that needed them
“It’s just like a blood bank; so for instance someone needs blood and goes to the blood bank. Similarly, there are facilities that provide breast milk for babies who need it. With the documentation and labelling, the details of the donor, the date of donation and quantity are noted,” she explained.
Dr Plange-Rhule said in Ghana, although there are no certified facilities, it is common knowledge that in some instances, mothers with difficulty producing enough breast milk allowed other mothers to breastfeed their babies or received breast milk from donors.
She said even in some health facilities, if the family of a baby whose mother had died were willing to accept milk from a breastfeeding relative, some tests such as screening for HIV are done and if the results are negative, the baby was given the milk.
The challenge, however, is about infections and she suggested that if there were certified facilities that did thorough screening and preservation of breast milk, more people would be confident to accept milk from these facilities.
Milk banks not luxuries
When contacted, the co-founder of LittleBigSouls Charitable Foundation, a charity for premature babies, Edith Uyovbukerhi, said breastmilk banks could not be described as luxuries as breastmilk had many benefits for babies.
She said it was important to start with awareness and sensitisation programmes to address some of the fundamental issues around donor milk in our region.
“We have a huge cultural mountain to ascend in making donor milk seen as the “gift of life” that it is.
“I have many times talked to mothers who are desperate to produce milk for their babies and trying so hard but not able to express significant volumes to meet babies’ critical needs. And yet, should she be offered milk from another woman, she would quickly and definitely say no.
“Concerns about how safe the milk is, diseases, not knowing who the donor is, lack of a family connection, the suspicion of motive, the opinions from her family and in-laws and so many more, stop a mother from even considering the possibility,” she explained.
She added that setting up the bank must to be done with stringent and regulated measures supported by the Ghana Health Service and the Ministry of Health.
Naa Adjeley Biney, a mother who was delivered of her baby prematurely added that she would have taken milk from a bank if there were such services in Ghana.
“I didn’t get to breastfeed because I was one of the few who didn’t lactate at all. Initially, I had it in little quantities and it ceased. All attempts to produce breast milk failed. Honestly, I considered getting it from a donor at a point but was discouraged. I was told they couldn’t test it and my family too wasn’t too keen on it,” she said.
Boosting breast milk supply
Dr Plange-Rhule advised that to increase the supply of breast milk after birth, newborns must be put to the breast soon after delivery except in cases where the baby was too sick to suck or had other health conditions that didn’t allow him or her to be breastfed immediately or the mother was not fit to breastfeed.
She added that new mothers should also be supported to breastfeed and taught how to breastfeed properly.
“Breast milk works on demand and supply basis so if the baby is breastfed regularly, it will stimulate supply. Some new mothers also go through emotional stress after delivery and this can also affect supply. Such mothers must be made comfortable and encouraged to breastfeed,” she added.
On meals that boost supply, she stated that there were no ‘special meals’ prescribed to boost supply, however, some breastfeeding mothers believed that certain meals increased their supply and so the choice of meals depended on the belief of the mother.
Dr Plange-Rhule further explained that although infant formula was substituted for breast milk in some cases, no formula could be compared to the benefits of breast milk.
She said aside giving the baby all the required nutrients to grow properly and build antibodies against some infections, it also gave the mother some protection against some forms of breast and ovarian cancers.
According to her, in cases where breast milk was not available, infant formula was the best option.
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