Establishment of Human milk bank in Oro under study

THE City Council committee on women and family relations chaired by Councilor Edna M. Dahino during its recent meeting discussed the proposed ordinance establishing a Human Milk Bank in Cagayan de Oro City.

This is pursuant to Republic Act 10028 or the “Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009” specifically Section 5, which encourages health institutions to set up milk banks for the storage of breast milk donated by mothers which have undergone pasteurization.

It was learned the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the law which was signed on August 22, 2011, explicitly describes the implementation of Milk Storage and Milk Banking in Health

Institutions.

During the meeting, JRBGH doctors suggested the milk bank be installed as a stand-alone unit of the hospital instead of putting it only as a section under its pediatric department.

The unit shall adopt and follow the guidelines and standards of the Philippine Human Milk Banking manual of operations set by the Department of Health (DOH) but its organizational structure and

support system may be tailored based on the uniqueness and needs of the city, they further recommended.

Since lactation support cannot be separated in the success of the Human Milk Bank it was likewise recommended to name the unit as Cagayan de Oro City Human Milk Bank and Lactation Support Center.

“In the Philippines, if you have a private consultation with a lactation consultant, it’s very “mahal”. We had a meeting with the City Health Breastfeeding committee and I just learned there are a lot of breastfeeding counselors in each barangay and then they don’t know where to refer if they can’t troubleshoot breastfeeding problems of those mothers in their barangay. Kasi wala naming lactation support center that is owned by the city. As a service to our city we need to have a lactation support center where the barangay peer group/health workers can refer to a higher level of breastfeeding knowledge,” the doctor representative explained.

These and other recommendations were noted by the committee for incorporation and inclusion in the proposed ordinance. Another round of discussion shall be scheduled as soon as the draft ordinance is finalized.