- Title: Kenya’s milk bank: Mothers step in to save lives
- Date: 22nd October 2019
- Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (RECENT - OCTOBER 17, 2019) (REUTERS) BABY ROSE BEING GIVEN MILK FROM CUP MOTHER OF BABY ROSE, SARAH WANJIKU, 33, HOLDING BABY SAYING IN SWAHILI "She's very hungry!" BABY ROSE DRINKING MILK (SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) SARAH WANJIKU, WHOSE DAUGHTER BABY ROSE IS A RECIPIENT OF DONOR HUMAN MILK, SAYING: "But I was told that they had donor milk that is donated by other mothers and I found it best to use that milk for the baby because she was very hungry and had not eaten for 3 days. So I found it best to use that milk. They reassured me by telling me that it was properly tested and screened. So I didn't have any reason to worry. I thank all the women who donated their milk." HUMAN MILK DONOR, EVELYN WAWIRA, WASHING HER HANDS BEFORE DONATING WAWIRA DRYING HER HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) HUMAN MILK DONOR, EVELYN WAWIRA, SAYING: "I mean, they are just babies. It's not their fault they don't have milk or the mom is not there, or the mom doesn't have enough milk. As long as the baby can have it and it will save his life, why not? We just need to be kind about it." VARIOUS OF WAWIRA IN ROOM WITH HER BREAST MILK BEING PUMPED OUT (SOUNDBITE) (English) HUMAN MILK DONOR, EVELYN WAWIRA, SAYING: "I thought it was strange because it has not been heard of in Kenya. So I thought it was just a bit strange...here breast-feeding someone's baby is not heard of. People think, it's not even ok. So, first you have your reservations - is it safe? Is it possible? Then when you google or talk to someone about it, you realise it's ok." FAITH NJERU, NURSE IN CHARGE OF HUMAN MILK BANK, INSIDE STERILISED AREA WHERE DONATED MILK ARE KEPT NJERU HOLDING UP BOTTLE CONTAINING HUMAN MILK NJERU OPENING REFRIGERATOR WHERE DONATED HUMAN MILK ARE KEPT BOTTLES OF HUMAN MILK INSIDE REFRIGERATOR BOTTLES OF HUMAN MILK ON TABLE (SOUNDBITE) (English) FAITH NJERU, NURSE IN CHARGE OF HUMAN MILK BANK, SAYING: "Oh yes, we've been having alarming high numbers of mothers who want to donate their milk. Currently since we launched the bank, that is six months ago, we have registered 400 donors who have donated themselves to come and donate the milk." BABY IN INCUBATOR / NURSE BABY IN INCUBATOR WAWIRA HOLDING HER BABY TARIQ BABY TARIQ (SOUNDBITE) (English) HUMAN MILK DONOR, EVELYN WAWIRA, SAYING: "They should. If you have more than enough just give it. Somebody's life depends on it." BABY ROSE DRINKING MILK FROM CUP (SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) SARAH WANJIKU, WHOSE DAUGHTER BABY ROSE IS A RECIPIENT OF DONOR HUMAN MILK, SAYING: "I thank the all the women who donated their milk and whoever started this project. It really helps especially those babies who don't have mothers, and those were delivered and their mothers had complications - some are in the ICU, I really thank those women." BABY ROSE SLEEPING
- Embargoed: 5th November 2019 10:18
- Keywords: Kenya milk bank breast milk donor babies Nairobi
- Location: NAIROBI, KENYA
- City: NAIROBI, KENYA
- Country: Kenya
- Topics: Health/Medicine,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001B26HWEV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: GRAPHIC IMAGE IN SHOT 8
She's only three days old but Baby Rose is showing a potentially huge appetite.
"She's very hungry," smiled 33-year-old Sarah Wanjiku as she cradled Rose in Pumwani Hospital ward - Nairobi's sole maternity hospital.
But it was touch and go for mother and daughter.
When Wanjiku started feeling labour pains, she knew it was too early - in fact, a month and a half early.
After going through hours of labour, a healthy but underweight Baby Rose was born.
According to Save the Children, approximately 200,000 Kenyan infants each year are born premature.
And because she was born premature, Wanjiku couldn't produce milk to feed Rose, potentially depriving her newborn of antibody-rich breast milk.
Studies have shown breast milk helps premature and sick babies recover. Although infants benefit most from their own mother's milk, there is an alternative - milk from donors.
The World Health Organization says compared with formula milk, human milk is associated with lower incidence of severe gut disorder, necrotising entercolitis and other infections during the initial hospital stay after birth.
The American Academy of Paediatrics says, if safely collected and pasteurised - donor milk is a good alternative.
Enter women like 25-year-old Evelyn Wawira, one of the growing number of donors in Kenya's only first human breast milk bank which was set up in March 2019 by the Ministry of Health and the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC).
Wawira says she produces more than enough milk for her newborn Tariq, her second son.
"I mean, they are just babies. It's not their fault they don't have milk or the mom is not there, or the mom doesn't have enough milk. As long as the baby can have it and it will save his life, why not? We just need to be kind about it," a soft-spoken Wawira said, four days after giving birth.
Although more women like Wawira are stepping in to donate, it wasn't always easy for a country like Kenya where there were concerns about hygiene and contamination.
"Oh yes, we've been having alarming high numbers of mothers who want to donate their milk. Currently since we launched the bank, that is six months ago, we have registered 400 donors who have donated themselves to come and donate the milk," said head nurse Faith Njeru who runs the highly sterilised milk bank where each donor is assessed, tested for diseases and documented to ensure donor-recipient link is properly identified.
APHRC are hoping to duplicate this free milk bank in other parts of Kenya.
Until then, mothers like Wanjiku can only be thankful that she was in the right place at the right time.
"I thank the all the women who donated their milk and whoever started this project. It really helps especially those babies who don't have mothers, and those were delivered and their mothers had complications - some are in the ICU , I really thank those women," she said as Rose dozes off - until the next feeding time.
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