Decentralized human milk banking with ODK sensors
Rohit Chaudhri, Darivanh Vlachos, Gaetano Borriello, Kiersten A Israel-Ballard, Anna Coutsoudis, Penny Reimers, Noah Perin · 2013
Developing countries are faced with the daunting challenge of lowering their neonate and child mortality rates. Studies have indicated that up to 13% of the deaths of children under the age of five could be prevented by breastfeeding alone. One key barrier is the availability of breast milk for vulnerable infants (those born pre-term, with low birth-weight, to HIV-positive mothers, or orphaned at birth). One strategy to increase availability of breast milk is establishing human milk banks that process donor milk. However, it has been difficult to provide safe, pasteurized donor breast milk to infants in developing countries due to cost and lack of infrastructure. Low-cost pasteurization methods require rigorous temperature monitoring and quality assurance processes for adoption at scale.