Is Kenya ripe for a human milk bank

Even if 34-year-old mother of two Teresa Muchiri had not been able to breastfeed when she had her children, she would never have considered getting milk from another woman to feed her babies as an option.

“Amidst many other what-ifs, my biggest concern is contamination. I would rather give my babies cow milk … another woman’s milk would have been very difficult for me to accept,” she says.

While Teresa finds the possibility of giving her children milk from another woman unnerving, 40-year-old Rose Lusivale, does not find it strange at all. In fact, while living abroad a few years ago, she was a human breast milk donor.

“My little one was not suckling much. I had to empty my breasts anyway, so instead of pouring out all that milk, I  donated it to a human  milk bank for babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). There was no monetary benefit but I felt good because I was able to help.”

Rose, a mother of two, would gladly accept human breast milk from another woman if her babies needed it. The act of sharing breast milk from one woman to feed another woman’s baby, goes way back in time. According to the Journal of Perinatal Education, wet nursing, which is the precursor to human milk banks, had evolved into a well-organised profession with contractual obligations as far back as 2000 BC.

In modern times, human milk banks are the preferred choice to provide milk for babies whose mothers are not able to breastfeed for one reason or the other.

Just like Teresa, 10 other women who were randomly surveyed for this story see human milk banks are a foreign idea that they would find hard to accept.

Only two would be willing to give their babies milk from human milk banks. The rest would rather fall back on formula. Most women’s concerns are about the safety of the milk from the source and the fears that the handlers of the milk may take shortcuts in processing it for use by infants.

BREAST MILK DONOR

Interestingly, the women polled were agreeable to being donors themselves.

While many women may not consider milk banks a priority for Kenya, where breast-feeding is widely practised, the reality is in fact different. According to the latest demographic and health survey data, exclusive breastfeeding rates for the first six months are on an upward trend from 32 per cent in 2009 to 61 per cent in 2014.

However, despite this success, the number of mums who breastfeed exclusively remains low among the urban poor. In this group only two per cent breastfeed their babies exclusively for the first six months, and even for those who do, their babies do not receive optimal nutrition through breast milk. Moreover, anecdotal estimates show that only 20 per cent of infants in neonatal wards in Kenya have access to their mother’s milk.

While many such babies are routinely fed with formula, Evelyn Matiri, a nutrition advisor with international non-governmental organisation PATH, says that current research recommends giving babies human donor milk as the first choice over formula.

“Human milk banks support these guidelines by providing safe, pasteurised donor milk,” says Matiri.

PATH is at the forefront of developing a human milk bank programme in Kenya, though that plan is still on ice as the organisation sources for funding to make it a reality. If they successfully set up a human milk bank, there will be clear guidelines on recruiting breast milk donors, collecting the milk, screening and processing it, as well as storing and distributing it to the infants who need it.

Another case for establishing human milk banks in the country is that milk from such facilities would come in handy for babies whose mothers have chronic illnesses and those whose mothers are not able to maintain exclusive breastfeeding. While mothers like Teresa are worried about the safety of donated breast milk, they can rest assured that the collection, screening and regulation of human breast milk usually follows strict guidelines to ensure that it is safe for babies. The milk is pasteurised to kill viruses and bacteria while retaining nutrients. Potential breast milk donors also undergo rigorous medical tests to ensure that they are healthy and suitable. As such, women can rest assured that the milk their babies receive from milk banks is topnotch.

Globally, Brazil leads with 220 human milk bank programmes, while in Africa, South Africa is the only country with an established human milk bank programme, with over 20 milk banks.

As stakeholders work to establish a human milk bank in Kenya, more awareness is required to unlock local barriers that would impede these efforts because a facility such as this would no doubt reinforce maternal health efforts in Kenya.

ADDITIONAL READING

For more information on milk banking, PATH’s document  Strengthening Human Milk Banking: A Global Implementation Framework can be accessed free at HERE.