For sick newborns in intensive care units, access to breast milk can be lifesaving (Representational)
In a significant move to bolster newborn babies' health, the Government of India has established 102 Comprehensive Lactation Management Centres (CLMC) and Lactation Management Units (LMU) across the country.
These centres aim to ensure the availability of safe, pasteurized donor human milk and facilitate the expression of mother's own milk for sick, preterm, and low birth weight babies admitted to intensive care units.
Breast milk is crucial for newborns, providing essential nutrients for growth and development while protecting against illnesses such as pneumonia, diarrhea, and chronic conditions like asthma, allergies, childhood obesity, diabetes, and heart diseases in adulthood.
For sick newborns in intensive care units, access to breast milk can be lifesaving, offering benefits from early initiation and exclusive feeding. It also helps prevent prematurity-related morbidities, including late-onset sepsis, broncho-pulmonary dysplasia, necrotizing enterocolitis, and retinopathy.
The Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Anupriya Patel, shared this information in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
According to reports from the States and Union Territories for the fiscal year 2023-24, there are currently 52 Comprehensive Lactation Management Centres and 50 Lactation Management Units operational nationwide.
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