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Breast-milk banks save the lives of many tiny babies, says Jane Hutchinson - but we need more

Wednesday December 1, 2004
The Guardian

Camilla Kingdon has cause to celebrate. As a consultant on the neonatal intensive care unit at Guy's and St Thomas' in London, she has been instrumental in setting up the hospital's new human milk bank. Breast milk is particularly important for premature babies: it is much better tolerated than formula milk and contains vital antibodies that help them fight infections. But until now if a mother of a baby on the unit could not get her milk going - something fairly common after a traumatic early birth - there was no option but to put the baby on to formula unless breast milk could be shipped in from somewhere else in time. "