Proposed New Project: Improved Lactation Research and Community Centre (ILRCC)

Project goal:

To establish and manage an Improved Lactation Research and Community Centre at Baragwanath Hospital in South Africa

Project description:

Baragwanath hosts one of the largest neonatal intensive care units in the Southern Hemisphere. However, South African hospitals generally lack dignified facilities for mothers to express for their babies in NICU. The ILRCC will host: a dignified expression facility for new mothers; a human milk bank to support infants whose mothers are unable to lactate; a clinical facility with lactation support staff for in- and out-patient support; and a small research facility aimed at improving lactation at hospital level. This will enable the SABR to continue to improve the quality and outcomes of maternity care in the facility-based delivery of babies; and significantly reduce the morbidity and mortality rates of newborns, especially premature and very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) babies.