Pakistan’s first Shariah-compliant Human Milk Bank inaugurated

Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho on Friday inaugurated Pakistan's first Shariah-compliant ‘Human Milk Bank’ and Early Childhood Centre at the Sindh Institute of Child Health and Neonatology (SICHN) in Korangi, Karachi.

The milk bank has been established in collaboration with Unicef. This facility will provide donor milk to infants who are unable to receive their mother's milk for any reason. Human milk banks primarily serve premature or sick infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) whom their mothers may not breastfeed. Donor milk can provide these vulnerable infants with essential nutrients, antibodies, and protective factors that support their growth.

In addition to providing donor milk to hospitalised infants, human milk banks may also offer support and education to breastfeeding mothers, promote breastfeeding awareness, and conduct research on human milk and lactation.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Dr Azra emphasised the significance of the Human Milk Bank at the sichn, highlighting that mother's milk offered newborns optimal nutrition and essential immunity.

She advised that mothers who could breastfeed should exclusively provide their milk to their babies for the first six months, without introducing any other food or even water. Unicef Pakistan representative Abdullah Fadil was also present at the event. He offered Unicef’s technical and financial support to establish more such human milk banks in other hospitals in Pakistan.

Prof Jamal Raza, executive director of the Sindh Institute of Child Health and Neonatology, described mother's milk as the ‘original fast food’, noting that it delivered all necessary nutrients, healthy components and disease-fighting properties that a newborn needed.

He explained that the facility would collect, process, store and distribute human breast milk donated by lactating mothers. “Once collected, the milk undergoes pasteurisation to eliminate any potential pathogens while preserving its nutritional content. After pasteurisation, the milk will be stored frozen until it is needed,” he added.

Prof Raza explained that to make it a Shariah-compliant facility, complete record of the donors and children would be kept at the institute and provided to the parents. He further disclosed that a team from the SICHN would be sent to some Islamic countries to receive training in running the Human Milk Bank.