Ian Uriel was born at 28 weeks gestation with a weight of only kilo and eighty grams, after his mother was detected pre-eclampsia and had to perform a cesarean section, four days after admission. The newborn was hospitalized for 84 days in the neonatal ICU of the Hospital of Gynecology and Obstetrics’ Dr. Luis Castelazo Ayala ‘. Thanks to the Breast Milk Bank of the Mexican Institute of Social Health (IMSS) he was able to recover earlier, being fed with the best existing medicine.
So when Ian was discharged, his mother decided to donate 30 liters of breast milk that were left as a reserve for other premature babies who need it , just like her son.
11 babies benefited
“The importance of breastfeeding lies in the fact that you give babies a lot of antibodies, you help them gain weight faster, in their growth and the attachment you have with your child is also a plus. I would invite the moms to really give them this benefit. “
It is Celeste’s request, which recognizes that she recognizes that in addition to the efforts of the Social Security staff, breast milk was of great help to her baby so that little by little she gained weight and strengthened her immune system.
And it is that Celeste was discharged two weeks after delivery, but her baby remained for about three months, several weeks in the ICU away from her mother. In his recovery it was essential to be fed daily with breast milk.
Ian dropped to 850 grams the days after he was born. Celeste recognizes in a local environment:
“They were very difficult days. It is not easy to be in intensive care on a roller coaster of emotions and feelings. There are very good days when your baby makes great strides and there are very bad days. But what drives you is that he, so small, is making him want to ”.
One more reason to donate breast milk and help other premature babies, like Celeste did.
The head of the Nutrition Department and head of the Breast Milk Bank of this High Specialty Medical Unit (UMAE), Minerva Lara Fuentes, explains that “the main functions of this service is to promote, collect, preserve and carry out quality controls of breast milk “.
“This Milk Bank was created for those women who are hospitalized or postpartum women whose babies were admitted here in the hospital, the purpose is to provide this ideal food to their premature or term babies.”
A need that continues despite Covid-19. At this time, each Milk Bank has been readapted to avoid contagions and to be able to maintain the sanitary safety distance. For example, this hospital in Mexico City explains that the room is only used by each mother the first time and by appointment, to guide her and explain how she should bring breast milk from home.
In addition, an office has been set up for the delivery of breast milk and only the father or mother is allowed to enter and tests are performed on each donor to verify that they are healthy.
The importance of breast milk for premature babies
Breast milk has shown multiple benefits in the premature baby, since it is a true natural medicine that helps to improve the structure of the heart and reduce the incidence and severity of some typical diseases of prematurity, such as necrotizing enterocolitis (in 80 %), a disease that affects the intestine and colon and may require surgery.
Breast milk for preterm infants is a health treatment that the mother can provide, preferably directly through the suction of the breast or with expressed milk. This is defended by the Spanish Association of Primary Care Pediatrics. production and sucking, or practicing the kangaroo method even if the feeding will be with expressed milk.
Breast milk is adapted to the needs of the baby, to such an extent that it has been confirmed that the milk produced by the mother of a premature baby is different in some respects from the milk of another woman.
In addition, the absorption capacity of long-chain fatty acids from breast milk is 90% or more, while those from artificial milk is only 65%, which is a huge advantage for the development of your nervous system , your brain and your retina. And not only that, the milk of the mother of a premature child has more defenses to fight infection.
Therefore, taking into account that breast milk for premature babies is a priority health treatment , we must be as generous as Celeste and donate for other babies who may need it, since the reserve is offered first to premature babies with low weight and If it comes from a mother of one of them, better because, as we have explained, the properties of their milk are different.
Via | Mexican Social Security Institute
Photos | iStock
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