Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
Last month, Pakistan opened its first breast milk bank in Karachi. Two weeks later, it was shut down by Islamic clerics. An initial fatwa approving the Unicef-backed facility was withdrawn over concerns around strict kinship rules, which forbid marriage between a woman’s biological children and any children who have fed on her milk. Health officials insist these objections can be overcome through robust record-keeping and mothers donating to only one child at a time. Pakistan has one of the world’s highest neonatal mortality rates (42 per 1,000 live births), and formula milk can be unsafe in areas where full sterilisation of bottles is difficult or parents over-dilute to save costs. The bank was intended to help sick or premature babies who can’t receive any or sufficient milk from their mothers. The local health minister hopes the bank can still be made to work. Until then – and before it could make a single deposit – its doors remain shut.
