CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)–With fast-paced technology and increasing demands for breast milk during natural disasters or emergency situations, the Modern Nanays of Mindanao (MNM) launched the city’s first milk bank delivery application, dubbed Mom App, at the Limketkai Mall Event Center in Cagayan de Oro City.
The MOM App is a digital platform that aims to empower women in providing milk assistance to premature newborns and donating breast milk faster and more efficiently from the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC).
“Karon nga naa na gyud ang app, malipay kita kay tungod kung naa ta sa atong panimalay, magpagawas ta sa atong gatas igo nalang ninyo ipa-pick up and ipadala nato sa NMMC milk bank,” Founder of Modern Nanays of Mindanao, Nadine Angelica Gadia-Casiño said.
(Now that we have the app, we’re happy that even at home, we can pump our [breast] milk and we can choose anytime for pick-up and delivery to the NMMC milk bank)
With the theme, “Women Disrupting the Breastfeeding Status Quo: Driving Change through Innovation,” the app was created by Bulacan State University partners and tech developers Dennis Robles Dela Cruz and Kenet Faundo through the Smart Innovation Generation (InnoGen 2.0).
“As you can see here, it’s [breastmilk] still the number one intervention to prevent under-five mortality in our country. So kung i-combine tanan ang Zinc ug ang mga vaccines, dili gihapon siya mu-sum up sa pila ka percentage nga contribution [to a child’s health] sa pag-breastfeeding,” said Dr. Jessamine C. Sareno, head pediatrician-neonatologist at the NMMC Human Milk Bank and Lactation Unit.
(As you can see here, breastmilk is still the number one intervention to prevent under-five mortality in our country. Even if we combine zinc and other vaccines, it still won’t add up to the percentage of contribution [to a child’s health] that breastfeeding makes)
Sareno further notes that the milk is pooled and pasteurized in order to retain the immunological properties of the mother’s breast milk and avoid contamination with other diseases.
MNM also partnered with the Department of Health (DOH)-10, the City Nutrition Committee, and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to aid in the delivery of breastmilk from the NMMC across the city.
The MOM App is currently only available in Cagayan de Oro City, but with growing support and recognition from the local government unit, it seeks to expand and branch out to other areas nationwide. (GKND/PIA-10)
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