The amount of breast milk collected by the country’s 225 public milk banks grew during the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2019, there were 222,969 liters, a number that rose to 233,282 liters in 2021, an increase of 5%.
In this World Breastfeeding Week, which runs until next Sunday (7), the Brazilian Network of Human Milk Banks highlights the importance of the service to help newborns who need food.
The coordinator of the Human Milk Bank (BLH) of the National Institute of Health for Women, Children and Adolescents Fernandes Figueira (IFF/Fiocruz), Danielle Aparecida da Silva, points out that the period of social isolation allowed mothers to stay longer with the babies.
“It was very common to see that this woman stopped being a donor after four months because she needed to go back to work. As she continued at home, offering the breast on demand, she continued as a donor for up to a year. This proved the importance of supporting the woman who returns to work, that she has a space where she can empty the breast so she can continue to feed the baby”, she added.
In the first six months of this year, 90,250 women donated 114,455 liters of breast milk to 112,830 premature babies admitted to neonatal ICUs. According to the IFF/Fiocruz, which coordinates the national network, the number is still not enough to meet 100% of requests.
“Today, Rio de Janeiro is maintaining a positive pole, with an expressive number of donations of human milk. But some other states are not achieving the same success”, points out Danielle Aparecida da Silva.
As it is a sensitive food, which undergoes quality control and needs to be pasteurized, milk cannot be moved between states, therefore, the need to increase the number of donors across the country in an equated way.
Nationally, data from the Brazilian Network of Human Milk Banks indicate that the volume of milk collected has grown by 35% in the last ten years – from 172,191.5 liters in 2012 to 233,282.2 in 2021. The number of babies benefited, despite of some fluctuations, it has also maintained an evolution: from 174,351 in 2012 to 237,986 last year.
Network has 225 Human Milk Banks
The Brazilian Network of Human Milk Banks was created in 1998, in an initiative by Fiocruz and the Ministry of Health. In 2000, the country had 109 banks, a number that more than doubled until 2021, when Brazil reached 225. New units will be inaugurated this year, as in Petrópolis, in the mountain region of Rio de Janeiro.
Banks don’t just work for the collection and donation of breast milk, but as support centers for every mother who needs help with breastfeeding.
“Any woman who has a question or who needs support, she can seek this service and will find a multidisciplinary team, willing to answer all the questions, such as the complications that happen, cracks, stones. This team is there to support and make breastfeeding a pleasant thing for the baby and the family”, highlighted the coordinator of the Human Milk Bank (BLH) of the IFF/Fiocruz.
Health authorities advise that every baby is exclusively breastfed for up to six months of age. According to the latest survey of the 2019 National Study of Child Food and Nutrition (Enani), in Brazil, this rate is 45.8%, with a higher prevalence in the South region (54.3%).
“Breast milk is the best food for the first six months of life, as it has everything the baby needs, including water, protects the child from respiratory infections and diarrhea, reduces the risk of developing hypertension, diabetes and obesity in adult life. , and, depending on the newborn’s weight, just 1 ml is enough to nourish him at each meal”, says Danielle Aparecida da Silva.
Breast milk is considered the gold standard of quality for baby food, so Brazil extends the incentive to breastfeed throughout the month, in the so-called Golden August.
Source: CNN Brasil
