Even with the long line of infant formulas available for those little bundles of joy, doctors would still agree that breast milk is still best for babies.
Mothers of premature babies, with some of the infants sick, at the Children’s Hospital of Shanghai and its doctors would have rejoiced as the hospital opens the door of its breast milk bank on Sunday, reported Shanghai Daily.
Those wishing to volunteer as donors will undergo a blood test to ensure that all donors don’t have infectious diseases. The hospital will prepare a file for every donor, to be eventually kept for 30 years, containing pertinent documents.
Three years ago, a similar facility opened in a city northwest of Hong Kong.
The Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center in Guangdong Province opened the first breast milk bank in the country in June 2013, according to CRIEnglish.
During its trial period that started in March of the said year, some 80 mothers donated their milk. The hospital initially spent 500,000 yuan to fund the bank’s operations.
According to Liu Xihong, one of those who co-founded the milk bank, only 20 percent of urban mothers breastfeed.
The World Health Organization recommends “exclusive breastfeeding” until the baby reaches six months. It stated on its website that mothers may continue to breastfeed their child “up to two years of age or beyond.”
“Colostrum, the yellowish, sticky breast milk produced at the end of pregnancy, is the perfect food for the newborn, and feeding should be initiated within the first hour after birth,” according to WHO.
An article by The Telegraph tells that the extensive promotion of infant formula in the country through advertisements contributed to the decline on the number of breastfeeding mothers.
According to Mintel, a London-based market research firm, China’s infant formula business earned $21.8 billion in 2014, reported Advertising Age, a news portal for the marketing and media community.
The government amended its advertising law in 2015, taking effect on Sept. 1 of the same year, according to the site. One particular amendment states that no edible baby product--food, infant formula, beverages--can “claim to replace a mother’s milk, fully or partially.”
Euromonitor, another research firm from London, said that by 2017, the infant formula market can reach more than $30 billion, reported Reuters.