Dr. Mohammad Bagher Hosseini, associate professor of neonatology ...
Dr. Mohammad Bagher Hosseini, associate professor of neonatology and Head of the Breast Milk Bank of Al-Zahra Teaching Hospital affiliated to Tabriz University of Medical Sciences (TUOMS), announced that Iran has 11 milk banks and ranks first in the Middle East.
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Dr. Hosseini expressed that preterm babies need breast milk in order to nourish and grow healthily. He also mentioned that the first milk bank was established 100 years ago in Austria; nowadays, there are around 600 milk banks worldwide with 210 banks in the Europe and 210 in Brazil. WHO and UNICEF released an announcement in 1990 confirming that the best milk for babies is breast milk; and those mothers who fail to breastfeed their babies are recommended to refer to the breast milk banks to get healthy pasteurized milk.
Dr. Mohammad Bagher Hosseini added that: "the donated milk is pasteurized and the mothers donating milk are tested for such viral diseases as AIDS".
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The first donor breast milk bank in Iran was officially inaugurated in Tabriz Al-Zahra Hospital during a ceremony attended by a number of Ministry of Health officials, UNICEF Iran’s Representative as well as pediatric academia on 15th July 2016. The donated breast milk saved in the bank greatly helps ill and premature babies whose mothers may are not able to breastfeed them. Following the establishment of this bank in Tabriz, 10 other centers opened in different cities of Iran, including Terhran, Mashhad, Zahedan, Ahvaz, Kermanshah, and Yazd; a new bank is also being opened in Isfahan.
World Breastfeeding Week is an annual celebration which is held every year from 1 to 7 August in more than 120 countries. The theme of World Breastfeeding Week 2020 is “Support breastfeeding for a healthier planet”.