Re: [ozmidwifery] WA opens a brestmilk bank for premmie babies

[Helen and Graham]

Does anyone know if the private milk bank in Melbourne ever got off the ground??? It was on the list some time ago.   Helen   ----- Original Message ----- From: Kelly @ BellyBelly To: ozmidwifery@acegraphics.com.au Sent: Monday, August 28, 2006 6:35 PM Subject: [ozmidwifery] WA opens a brestmilk bank for premmie babies THE push to open a human milk bank in Sydney is gaining momentum. Specialists in Perth are spearheading an Australia-wide movement to reintroduce milk banks after the emergence of AIDS in the early 1980s forced them to close. Perth's King Edward Memorial Hospital For Women will start operating a milk bank at the end of this month and another bank is preparing to open on the Gold Coast. Sydney neonatologist Howard Chilton said Australia and NSW were long overdue for a human milk bank. "It's not really been on the radar but Perth is putting it on the radar," Dr Chilton said. It has potential to save hospitals money because it lowers the incidence of certain diseases." Premature babies, whose mothers are unable to produce enough milk, will be the main benefactors of the milk banks. Studies have shown human milk is superior to formula and can improve a premature baby's long-term mental and physical health. Despite the spread of AIDS, human milk banks have continued to thrive across Europe and the US. Dr Chilton, who has set up a company to provide the pasteurisers needed to purify the human milk, said Sydney hospitals had expressed interest in buying the $60,000 machines. Biomedical scientist Professor Peter Hartmann, one of the specialists behind the Perth milk bank, said production of milk will "start off slowly". "We want to make sure we've got every step working properly," he said. For mothers to be eligible to donate milk, they must pass a screening process.   Best Regards, Kelly Zantey Creator, BellyBelly.com.au Gentle Solutions From Conception to Parenthood BellyBelly Birth Support - http://www.bellybelly.com.au/birth-support   __________ NOD32 1.1727 (20060826) Information __________ This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. http://www.eset.com