Stakeholders at a maiden lactation conference have suggested creating a breast milk bank at health facilities across the country.
If carried out, the project will support the promotion of exclusive breastfeeding among nursing mothers during a six-month period.
This will additionally assist nursing moms who are unable to exclusively breastfeed their children for the advised duration due to health reasons or other circumstances.
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A professor at the School of Medical Sciences at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Prof Akua Plange-Rhule said this during a maiden Lactation Conference organised for health practitioners by HopeXchange Medical Centre in Kumasi.
The three-day conference educated the health workers on topics such as understanding the anatomy and physiology of breast milk and breastfeeding and the latest research on breastfeeding and its benefit.
Professor Plange-Rhule provided more context for the breast milk bank effort by stating that exclusive breastfeeding is crucial for nursing moms and that policies supporting and advancing this campaign are required.
Professor Plange-Rhule explained that the breast milk bank would function similarly to a blood bank, where customers might go in and buy blood to save a relative.
“This milk bank will also provide milk for mothers at a cost to breastfeed their infant if there are situations that prevent breastfeeding,” she said.
She mentioned the Paediatric Society of Ghana and other health bodies that were interested in the initiative adding “there are conversations, studies and research works going on, on the best way to operate and lot of things have to be put in place to make sure of the acceptability”.
She urged for increased government funding as well as increased stakeholder participation in order to support an encourage exclusive breastfeeding among nursing mothers.
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She added that some African nations, particularly South Africa, were running the breast milk bank scheme and that it is possible for Ghana to do same.
