The driving force of the white gold that saves babies' lives

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BY PABLO MONTANARO – [email protected]

The relationship with his medical aunts and the contact and badistance with the children of the slums of Tucumán have very early awakened the interest of pursuing a career allowing him to save lives. "My mother was a teacher and my father was a chemistry technician, but my aunts Corina Esley, a hematologist, and Maria, a rheumatologist, made me discover this profession," says Alejandra Buiarevich, born 49 years ago in Córdoba. She earned a medical degree in Jujuy and started a pediatric residency that ended at Ricardo Gutiérrez Children's Hospital in Buenos Aires.

But he also distinguished himself as one of his most memorable experiences when he joined a group of young people who were going to help in slums. "I was in a slum in Tucumán where poverty was extreme, I lived a fortnight with children in danger and this situation has attracted me a lot.I think I chose this vocation with this idea. to be able to save these children, "he recalls.

In March 1999, she arrived in Neuquén with her husband, Dr. Fernando Vargas, to work at Aldo Maulu Hospital in Cutral. This goal, which is to save the lives of children in danger, began to gain momentum in 2012, when she attended the Congress. Breastfeeding in Argentina in Corrientes, where the possibility of creating a bad milk bank (BLH) in the province of Neuquén was badyzed, specifically at the Hospital of Cutral Co. This bank would be a recipient voluntary donor mothers' milk, as long as they managed to consolidate the badfeeding of their own child.

Breast milk – called "white gold" – is intended for newborns "who can not be bad-fed by their mother and who are at risk because of their low weight, malnutrition, gastrointestinal diseases, postoperative infants, surgeries and children of an HIV-positive mother, "he explains.

From that moment, Buiarevich and a group of nurses, nutritionists, doctors and biochemists trained and trained the BLH team inaugurated at the Cutral Co Hospital on June 16, 2016, becoming the sixth in the country. Adding to existing ones in Buenos Aires, La Plata, Chaco, Córdoba and Mendoza.

Currently, the bank has more than 680 donor mothers and pasteurizes between 20 and 40 liters per month. Once badyzed, graded and pasteurized, milk is distributed to hospitals and clinics throughout the province.

"At first, when we said that with a little milk, we could save a life, the professionals doubted a lot, when we demonstrated that this milk had an optimal traceability and that it was the best product for our we started to trust more people, "he says.

Remember the first donation of bad milk by following protocols and quality standards. "It was August 2, 2016 and the first milk was given to an 18-year-old mother of Andacollo who had had triplets and who had been at the Castro Rendón hospital for more than two years. month because one of his babies could not tolerate formula This baby tolerated the milk of the bank and in a week he regained his weight.It was a very exciting experience. "

She has a smile that her three children "could give her a tit, even one of them, while she was three years old, gave her a tit and ate Milanese".

Consider the importance of the bank "to be able to work in health and not in sickness", and that these mothers giving milk, in addition to feeding and raising healthy children, "save the the lives of their other children who need it. "

Buiarevich highlights the latest infant mortality records among the lowest in the province's history: in 2018, they were 5.44 per 1,000 live births. "This decrease in infant mortality is linked to the establishment of the bank three years ago," he said.

On the awards received, the doctor argues that it is recognition of the project initiated in 2012 that aimed at the promotion, protection and support of badfeeding. "They are important because they are aware of the importance of being able to feed our children with the best milk of our species," he said.

-> Recognized by the Senate

Alejandra Buiarevich has received numerous awards for her work at the Human Milk Bank. Last year, he was singled out by the Senate Women's Banking Commission for the nation that recognizes work done well or community tasks. The undersecretary for women's affairs of the Ministry of Citizenship also acknowledged that this woman was one of the most remarkable women of 2018 for the defense and promotion of the rights of all women. On Thursday, on Women's Day, she was honored by the OSDE Foundation.