At the event (Photo: Alive & Thrive) Ninh province became the
first hospital in Northern Vietnam to be recognised as a Centre of Excellence
for Breastfeeding at a ceremony on July 28.
On the same day, the hospital
also launched its Human Milk Bank and a specialised clinic providing infant and
young child feeding counselling to parents and other caregivers.
“Integrating three
pro-breastfeeding interventions at once, the hospital shows responsibility and
determination in protecting, supporting and promoting breastfeeding,” said
Roger Mathisen, Regional Director for Alive & Thrive Southeast Asia.
“The Centre of Excellence model
and Human Milk Bank assure that every child can access breastmilk during their
hospital stay, and the counseling clinic equips mothers with the necessary
knowledge and skills to continue breastfeeding after discharge. This is a good
practice that needs to be scaled up.”
To become a Centre of
Excellence for Breastfeeding, the hospital passed a rigorous assessment by the
Ministry of Health. The hospital also received positive feedback from mothers
about the neonatal care services they experienced.
Dr. Nguyen Duc Vinh, Head of the Maternal and Child
Health Department of the Ministry of Health, said that the Quang Ninh Obstetrics and Pediatrics
Hospital has made impressive progress in maternal and newborn care services.
“After only one year, the rate
of children who receive skin-to-skin contact consistently for 90 minutes immediately
after birth has increased from 59 percent in the first quarter of 2019 to 84 percent
in second quarter of 2020; the rate of early breastfeeding after delivery and
exclusive breastfeeding during their hospital stay is also high – respectively
at 88 percent and 85 percent,” said Vinh.
The hospital’s achievements specifically
ensure nutrition counselling for pregnant women and caregivers with small
children; a friendly childbirth room with family members accompanying the
mothers while in labour; early essential newborn care including immediate
skin-to-skin contact for 90 minutes and early breastfeeding for healthy
newborns; kangaroo mother care for premature, low-weight and sick babies; and
safe, screened and lifesaving pasteurised human milk for newborns who
cannot access their own mother’s milk.
The Quang Ninh Human Milk Bank is the third of its kind in the country and the first in Northern Vietnam.
“The Human Milk Bank was established to
ensure that the babies who are unable to access breastmilk from their own
mothers for any number of reasons can still reap the enormous benefits of
breastmilk, including boosting their immune systems and protecting them from
various ailments and diseases,” said Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung, Director of the .
“I was consulted about my own nutrition and
advised about how to breastfeed during one of my prenatal visits,” said Nguyen Ngoc Han, one of the first 18 human milk donors.
“I remember the moment when my child was
first placed on my chest after birth, and was so excited to breastfeed for the
first time.
“No formula can replace breastmilk. That
is why I donated breast milk to the milk bank with the hope that more babies
like mine will get the best nutrition and grow up healthy.”
Human milk donors are screened and
counselled, and asked to make a long-term commitment to breast milk donation.
Donated breast milk is tested, pasteurised and preserved according to strict
procedures to ensure safety and quality.
The human milk bank is capable of providing
pasteurised breast milk to 1,000 premature, underweight and sick babies in the
hospital and another 20,000 vulnerable babies in the province.
The
Initiative has been developed and implemented by Vietnam’s Ministry of Health,
provincial Departments of Health with support from Alive & Thrive and Irish
Aid, encouraging health facilities to create and maintain
breastfeeding-friendly environments by practising early essential newborn care
and supporting breastfeeding./.
Source: VietnamPlus
