The programme is a collaboration between KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) and Temasek Foundation Cares, Channel NewsAsia reported.
It was launched by former Speaker of Parliament and presidential hopeful, Halimah Yacob yesterday..
Also present at the event was another presidential hopeful, Mohamed Salleh Marican, a Temasek Cares board member.
The milk bank will provide breast milk for premature and sick neonates from donor mothers, the news portal reported.
KKH and Temasek Foundation Cares said they hope to recruit 375 mothers willing to donate their excess breast milk supply.
The foundation has set aside S$1.37 million (RM4.3 million) for the milk bank, which will collect, screen, process and store breast milk from donor mothers.
The human breast milk bank is expected to benefit 900 pre-term babies over the next three years.
The World Health Organisation recommends that babies be exclusively breastfed for the first six months as it is a vital source of antibodies and nutrition.
“For premature babies, they have very premature immune and digestive systems,” said KKH’s head of neonatology Dr Chua Mei Chien.
“For these premature babies, exposure to cow’s milk can expose them to a lot of problems, including feeding intolerance.”
For many mothers of pre-term babies, it may take them weeks before their bodies can produce enough milk.
The milk from donor mums undergo stringent screening processes for HIV, Hepatitis B and C and syphilis.
Chua said about 20 mothers have so far indicated their interest to donate their breast milk.
Halimah, who was a founding board member of Temasek Cares, assured Muslim mothers that their pre-term babies can receive milk from the milk bank.
She said the Fatwa Committee of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) has issued a fatwa allowing the use of donor milk from the milk bank for the purposes of preserving the well-being of the infant.