BIÑAN CITY — Calling all “padede” moms out there.
A private hospital in this city in Laguna province is giving away a kilo of premium rice in exchange for 240 cubic centimeters (8 ounces) of breast milk.
The goal is to collect breast milk for premature babies, according to officials of Unihealth-Southwoods Hospital and Medical Center (USHMC).
An average of 90 mothers give birth every month at the hospital, nursing assistant Evelyn Pador said, citing data from its neonatal intensive care unit.
“Maybe no more than 10 [of those babies] are born premature,” she added.
At Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Manila, the world’s “busiest” maternity facility, breast milk is also sold for P200 per 100 cc.
Eligible women
While online post of the rice-for-breast-milk project quickly drew public interest, only women who gave birth at USHMC in the last three to six months are eligible, Pador said.
This, she said, would ensure that the breast milk comes from healthy mothers.
At USHMC, expectant mothers must undergo a series of seven prenatal screenings, say to detect the AIDS-causing human immunodeficiency virus, before giving birth.
The hospital also accepts only freshly expressed breast milk and has initially prepared two sacks of rice to give away to each donor.
USHMC board members last month approved the project, which was conceived by Dr. Milagros Borabien, head of the Mother Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative. But they announced their approval on its Facebook page only last week.
Pador said the launch during the Christmas season was “timely,” as it may encourage more mothers to donate their milk.
Health care workers globally promote breast milk to reduce infant mortality and boost the immune system of babies.
Milk Code standards
According to the World Health Organization, breast milk can save a family about P4,000 per month.
Pador said USHMC adhered strictly to the Philippine Milk Code and government policies that banned feeding bottles and infant formula in the hospital.
“All the more that premature babies need breast milk, especially when their mothers have yet to express their own,” she said.
Unfortunately, there is still no human milk bank in the vicinity.
Pador said USHMC was coordinating with the city government to put up a milk bank that would cost roughly P3 million.
For now, “what we are hoping for is to see similar programs in other hospitals, too,” she said.