Trends and Dynamics in the First Four Years of Operation of the First Human Milk Bank in Vietnam

Abstract

Background: Since 1979, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have recommended the use of pasteurized human milk from a human milk bank (HMB) to feed low birthweight (LBW) and preterm newborns as the ‘first alternative’ when mothers are unable to provide their own milk. However, they have not issued any guidelines for the safe establishment and operation of an HMB. This gap contributes to the demand for gathering experiences from HMB networks, especially those from lower-middle income countries. To fill this knowledge gap, this study examines the characteristics of donors, donation, pasteurization, and recipients during the first four years of operation in the first HMB in Vietnam. Methods: Data about the donors, donation, pasteurization, and recipients were extracted from the web-based electronic monitoring system of the HMB from 1 February 2017 to 31 January 2021. Results: In the first four years of operation there were 433 donors who donated 7642 L of milk (66% from the community) with an increased trend in the amount of donated milk, donation duration, and average amount of milk donated by a donor. Approximately 98% of the donated milk was pasteurized, and 82% passed both pre- and post-pasteurization tests. Although the pass rate tended to increase with time, a few dips occurred. Of 16,235 newborns who received pasteurized donor milk, two thirds were in the postnatal wards. The main reason for the prescription of pasteurized donor milk was insufficient mothers’ own milk in the first few days after birth. There was a decreased trend in the amount and duration of using pasteurized donor milk in both postnatal wards and the neonatal unit. Conclusions: The HMB has operated efficiently in the previous four years, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, to serve vulnerable newborns. Ongoing evidence-based adjustments helped to improve the operation to recruit suitable donors, to increase the access to and quality of raw donor milk, to improve the pasteurization process, and to meet the need of more newborns.

Eight-year operation status and data analysis of the first human milk bank in East China

“…Our donors were mainly aged between 25 and 30 years, and this is similar to the donor demographic of HMBs reported in Taiwan and Thailand [18,19]. 33.3% of the donors in the present study delivered preterm infants.…”

Factors Associated with the Use of Pasteurized Donor Milk for Healthy Newborns: Experience from the First Human Milk Bank in Vietnam

“…Established in February 2017, the HMB has expanded from sick, preterm or low birthweight newborns to include healthy newborn infants who are unable to breastfeed (starting June 2017) [18]. In the first four years of operation, the HMB distributed PDM to 16,235 newborns, with two thirds of the recipients being healthy newborns in postnatal wards [19]. We conducted this study to examine the factors associated with the prescription and prolonged use (>48 h) of privately purchased PDM to healthy newborns.…”

Implementation and Effectiveness of Policies Adopted to Enable Breastfeeding in the Philippines Are Limited by Structural and Individual Barriers

“…In addition to universal counseling, referral systems for specialized counseling services on lactation and mother support groups must be set up and made accessible through the use of local and online contacts and continuous promotion in digital media. Strengthening the capacity for providing breastfeeding support with quality and high coverage through the healthcare system can reduce CMF supplementation to infants in hospitals, which delays the early initiation of breastfeeding and negatively affects exclusive breastfeeding and breastfeeding duration [ 65 , 66 ] and can also prevent over-reliance on donor human milk in hospitals with human milk banks [ 67 ].…”