TPDH provides free breast milk to Taguigeños in need

Twenty-three-year-old Mehara Padjing couldn’t contain her emotions as she spoke.

 

Scenes of her child in an incubator as she desperately looked for human breast milk to feed him, after all, were still too much to bear, even after so many years.

 

“My child was born premature so he was put there, at the intensive care unit. The doctors explained that the IV placed in his body would cause a decrease in his blood sugar, which meant he would have a hard time digesting formula milk.  So we really had to find human breast milk,” Padjing recounted.

 

She was about to lose hope when several personnel of the Taguig-Pateros District Hospital (TPDH) she had approached told her about the facility’s human milk bank and its accompanying program for mothers.

 

She was told that under the program, non-lactating mothers of infants who were in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit or the Premature Pathologic Neonatal Unit could avail of the breast milk from the bank for free.

 

“That’s why we are really grateful to the TPDH that we were able to avail of the pasteurized milk for free, and to the donors for sharing their breast milk since like myself, can no longer supply my baby’s milk needs,” she said.

 

The TPDH human milk bank was launched in 2015, under the leadership of Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano with the help of House Deputy Speaker and Taguig 2nd District Rep. Pia Cayetano.

 

The hospital bank, which is one of only 18 human milk banks in the country, relies on the donations of mothers who have an oversupply of breastmilk.

 

According to TPDH’s Lactation Counselor Alex Levantino, the milk, once donated, undergoes the pasteurization process that sees it heated for 30 minutes so bacteria like the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Hepatitis B can be killed.

 

Since 2015, the bank has collected 270 liters of human milk from a total of 1,642 mothers from all over the city, and benefited 243 mothers since it was first launched.

 

Because of its efforts, the TPDH was recognized as a Mother-Baby Friendly Hospital by the Department of Health (DOH) in 2015.

 

At present, the city government continues to improve the quality of service at the hospital by acquiring new equipment and renovating its facilities.

 

TPDH now has a fully operational intensive care unit (ICU), additional beds both for newborns and adults, a CT scan, an Arterial Blood Gas (ABG) Test Machine which tests blood gas, and an ultrasound machine.

 

As for the other medical facilities in the city, there have been significant improvements in the 31 PhilHealth-accredited barangay health centers.

 

Three (3) Super Health Centers that offer services 24/7 have also been established.

 

Other medical services in Taguig include a door-to-door delivery of maintenance medicines for residents who have diabetes, asthma and hypertension, a citywide eye checkup, and a distribution of prescription glasses to senior citizens and students.

 

The “Doctors On Call” program is also designed for those who find themselves in emergency situations. ###

 

 

FILIPINO VERSION

 

TPDH nagbibigay ng libreng gatas ng ina para sa mga Taguigeño

 

Hindi mapigilan ni Mehara Padjing, 23, ang kanyang nararamdaman habang naglalahad ng kuwento.

 

Naalala ni Padjing ang itsura ng kanyang sanggol na nasa loob ng incubator habang siya naman ay namomroblema sa paghagilap ng gatas ng ina na pwedeng ibigay sa kanyang bagong silang na bata.

 

Kahit ilang taon na ang lumipas ay sariwa pa rin sa kanyang alaala ang hirap at bigat ng kanyang naramdaman sa panahon na kailangan niyang mabigyan ng gatas ang kanyang anak.

 

“Premature kasi ang anak ko kaya siya inilagay sa incubator sa loob ng intensive care unit. Ipinaliwanag ng duktor na ang mga dextrose na nakatusok sa bata ay makapagpapababa sa kanyang blood sugar. Dahil dito ay mahihirapan ang katawan niya na matunaw ang formula milk. Noon ang hirap humanap ng sariwa na gatas ng ina,” lahad ni Padjing.

 

Bago pa man nawalan ng pag-asa si Padjing, nalaman niya ang human milk bank facility sa Taguig-Pateros District Hospital (TPDH) at ang programa ng Taguig para sa nutrisyon ng mga sanggol sa lungsod.

 

Sinabi sa kanya na sa ilalim ng programa, ang mga non-lactating mothers o mga inang hindi nakapaglalabas ng natural na gatas para sa mga sanggol na naka-confine sa Neonatal Intensive Care Unit o yung mga Premature Pathologic Neonatal Unit ay pwedeng makakuha ng libreng breast milk sa milk bank.

 

“Sa ganitong programa ay talagang malaki ang naitulong ng programa sa mga inang kagaya ko. Maraming salamat sa mga libreng pasteurized milk, pati na rin sa mga donor na nagbigay ng kanilang gatas, ngayon ay hindi na problema ng mga kagaya ko ang gatas ng ina,” wika pa ni Padjing.

 

Ang milk bank sa TPDH ay inilunsad noong 2015, sa ilalim ng liderato ni Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano at sa tulong ni House Deputy Speaker at Taguig 2nd District Rep. Pia Cayetano.

 

Ang hospital bank, na isa sa 18 na human milk banks sa buong bansa, ay nakasalalay sa mga inang nagdo-donate ng kanilang sariling gatas. Karamihan sa mga nagdonate ay mga inang may oversupply ng kanilang breast milk.

 

Ayon pa sa TPDH Lactation Counselor Alex Levantino, ang gatas ng ina, kapag na-donate na, ay sumasailalim pa sa pasteurization process kung saan sinisiguro na ang mga gatas ay pinainit ng 30 minutes nang sa gayon ay mapuksa ang mga mikrobyo nito kasama na ang human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) at Hepatitis B.

 

Simula pa noong 2015, ang milk bank ay naka-kolekta na ng mahigit 270 litro ng gatas ng ina mula sa mahigit 1,642 na mga ina sa buong lungsod. Umabot na rin sa 243 na mga nangangailangan na ina ang natulungan nito.

 

Dahil sa inisyatibo, ang TPDH ay kinilala na Mother-Baby Friendly Hospital ng  Department of Health (DOH) noong 2015.

 

Sa ngayon, ang Taguig City government ay patuloy na itinataas ang kalidad ng serbisyo sa TPDH sa pamamagitan ng mga paglagay ng makabagong kagamitan at pagsasaayos ng kapaligiran at pasilidad.

 

Ang TPDH ay isa sa mga pampublikong ospital na mayroong maayos na intensive care unit (ICU), karagdagang higaan sa mga pasyente at sanggol, CT scan, at Arterial Blood Gas (ABG) Test Machine na may kakayanan na makapagbigay ng blood gas testing, at ultrasound machine.

 

Sa kabuuang medical facilities sa Taguig, nagkaroon na rin ng pagbabago kung saan meron nang 31 PhilHealth-accredited barangay health centers.

 

Tatlong (3) Super Health Centers na nagbibigay ng 24/7 na serbisyo publiko ay naitatag na rin at patuloy na gumagana.

 

Kasama rin sa medical services ng Taguig ang door-to-door delivery ng maintenance medicines para sa mga residenteng mayroong diabetes, asthma at hypertension. Meron din ginagawang citywide eye checkup at distribusyon ng prescription glasses sa senior citizens at estudyante.

 

Ang “Doctors On Call” program naman ay dinisenyo upang rumesponde ang mga doktor sa mga sitwasyong nangangailangan ng emergency na lunas sa anumang kaso ng kalusugan at sitwasyon ng pangangatawan. ###