A breast milk bank will be opened to the prematurely-born babies in South Africa, the newspaper New Age reported on Wednesday.“The breast milk bank will improve the health and future of the premature babies,” the paper reported, citing a dean in North West University in the northern province of the North West. The bank is newly founded at Potchefstroom Hospital in the North West, jointly sponsored by North West University and the provincial government.The bank will store the breast milk in plastic bottles and freeze it following collecting from women that have the breast milk in excess.The milk will be donated to premature babies who have no access to breast milk, said Dr. Welma Lubba at the hospital. The doctor said the breast milk is not just food but also contains the best and most nutritional value with an additional function of medicine. Breast milk could also act as a lubricant that will keep toxins out by sealing babies’ the stomach walls against perforation.Before distribution to other hospitals, the breast milk in the bank should meet a series of requirements. The milk will be screened and sterilized to guard against HIV/AIDS infections or tuberculosis bacteria or virus.In South Africa, breast milk is regarded as a vital substance which cannot be sold due according to law. Many parents tend to quickly transfer to formula milk. However, it formula milk is made from cow milk, belonging to a foreign substance as it is unnatural in the human body, said the doctor.
