Effectiveness of Teaching on Human Milk Banking Among Nursing Students

Human milk bank or breast milk bank is a service which collects, screens, processes and dispenses by prescription human milk donated by nursing mothers who are not biologically related to the recipient infant. The World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended the use of donated breast milk as the first alternative when maternal milk is not available. Nepal’s first Human Milk Bank (Amritkosh) has been established in Kathmandu, with President Bidya Devi Bhandari inaugurating it at the Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital. The establishment of a human breast milk bank is crucial to realizing Nepal’s Commitment to sustainable Development Goals 2030 by ending preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5years of age. Every year, around 15 million babies are born preterm around the globe and that number is particularly high in low and middle-income countries like Nepal. Human milk is equally beneficial for all newborn babies, importantly for very low birth weight and extremely low birth weight babies and improveneuro-cognitive development. Human milk fed Very Low Birth weight infants have lesser incidence of infection and sepsis/meningitis. Feeding formula milk can often lead to a high risk of developing an infection (sepsis) as well as necrotizing enterocolitis, a serious disease that affects the intestines of premature infantsA pre-experimental one group pre-test posttest study was adopted for the study. Convenient sampling techniques were used for sampling technique. The findings revealed that the overall mean pre-test Knowledge score was 11.50 their Standard deviation was 3.83 and the overall post-test knowledge score was 22.62 its standard deviation was 4.19 respectively. The mean post-test knowledge score of nursing students who were exposed to structured teaching programme are significantly higher, than the mean pretest knowledge scores. The study concluded that the structured teaching Program was an effective teaching strategy, to enhance knowledge of nursing students regarding human milk banking. In addition, nurses play a vital role in raising public awareness regarding the establishment of breast milk banks. Benefit of human Milk Bnaking For Madhesh Pradesh : Human milk banking help in Improve the Neonatal Health, Optimum Nutrion , Reduced infant mortality and lifelong advantages for the baby and positive health benefits for mothers who donate. To establish human milk banking in Madhesh, policymakers should leverage the successful model of Nepal's first milk bank, 'AmritKosh', by collaborating with the Government of Nepal, UNICEF, and the EU; integrating milk banks into the province's hospitals; and implementing standardized protocols for milk collection, testing, pasteurization, and distribution to ensure the health and survival of vulnerable infants and promote optimal nutrition. Focus on increasing public awareness, training healthcare workers, and engaging donors to ensure sustainable and effective milk banking in the region.