Breastfeeding mothers with surplus milk can now donate to the Human Milk Bank at the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) in Accra.
Five months after its official launch, the facility, located at the Women and Children’s Block of the medical centre, is now receiving, processing and storing donated breast milk for distribution to vulnerable newborns, particularly preterm babies.
In an interview with The Mirror in Accra last Friday, the Head of the Paediatric Department, Dr Beatrice Nyann, said after the launch, the team spent months perfecting the system and processes involved.
She explained that although equipment for the bank — including pasteurisers, deep freezers, air purification systems and breast pumps — was ready at the time of launch, the hospital spent the months that followed building additional structures to ensure safe and efficient service delivery.
These included the development of a digital tracking system to monitor donors and processing stages, a dedicated laboratory channel to fast-track results, as well as consent frameworks for both donors and recipients.
Dr Nyann said earlier this month, the bank received its first donor milk which is currently going through the process before it is donated.
“We began operations on November 3 and have already received our first donations. The milk has been stored, tested and pasteurised, but we want to be absolutely certain that everything is safe before giving it to a baby. We have opened up for donors and are still receiving milk — the only thing left is to give out our first batch once the final checks are cleared.”
“We wanted to get it right because this is the first facility of its kind in Ghana, so we studied similar models in countries like India and the United States and adapted them to fit our context,” she added.
Screening processes
She said every donor is screened for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV — the key viral infections that can be transmitted through
breast milk.
“After pasteurisation, we also run bacterial cultures on the milk to make sure there are no microorganisms present,” she
added.
She said in the first six months, the hospital will cover the cost of screening and other related tests but after that, beneficiaries will have to take up the processing cost similar to the processes involved in getting blood from the blood bank.
Both donors and receivers will also sign a consent form as part of the process involved.
Fears
In 2021, when a reporter asked some mothers if they would accept breast milk from a donor for their babies, a number of them said they would prefer formula to milk from another mother.
Dr Nyaan said this was a popular perception they were aware of, hence plans to intensify awareness of the life-saving benefits of human milk.
“People need to understand that if they’re comfortable giving their babies formula made from cow’s milk, they shouldn’t fear human milk that has been screened and pasteurised.”
“One of the core goals of the human milk bank is to improve survival outcomes for preterm babies and newborns who are unable to breastfeed.
Research shows that very premature babies often struggle to tolerate formula, but thrive on human breast milk because of its unique
properties. Breast milk supports gut maturation, brain development, immunity and physical growth, while reducing the risk of infections and long-term conditions such as allergies, hypertension and diabetes,” she explained.
UPLIFT Fund
As part of activities to climax this year’s prematurity awareness week, the centre launched the UPLIFT Fund to support parents of preterm babies who could not afford the cost of care.
A paediatrician, Dr Sharron Makafui Aglobitse, said: “The cost of preterm care is very high globally, and here at UGMC we see mothers travel from across the country only to realise they cannot afford the care their babies need. We set up the Uplift Fund so that money does not become the reason a preterm baby doesn’t survive. We want every baby to have a fair chance”.
“We hope that by January, we will have enough resources to support families who cannot afford preterm care. We are appealing to government, NGOs, philanthropists, churches, mosques, schools and individuals — anyone who is touched — to donate and help save these
little ones,” she added.
Dr Aglobitse urged the public to show compassion instead of stigmatisation, explaining that many families of preterm babies still feel ashamed because their children are tiny or develop more slowly than others.