VOA慢速英语2019 非洲第二家母乳银行挽救生命（在线收听）

Africa’s Second Breast Milk Bank Saves Lives in Nairobi

A hospital in Kenya has set up a breast milk bank to help save the lives of newborn babies.

肯尼亚一家医院设立了母乳银行，帮助挽救新生儿的生命。

The project is a first of its kind for East Africa and only the second on the African continent. Organizers say it is providing donated milk to babies in need.

这是东非的首个此类项目，也是非洲大陆的第二个。组织者说，该银行正在向有需要的婴儿提供捐赠的母乳。

The milk bank was set up at Nairobi's Pumwani Maternity Hospital. It opened in March.

母乳银行是在内罗毕的普瓦尼妇产医院建立的。于3月份正式开业。

Mary Auma is a mother who recently visited the hospital. She spoke with VOA reporters.

玛丽·奥玛(Mary Auma)是一位母亲。她告诉美国之音的记者，她最近访问了这家医院。

Auma’s baby was born a month early. Auma herself has been sick and has not been able to breastfeed her baby, as suggested by the World Health Organization. The WHO says babies born early have a greater chance of survival when given breast milk instead of formula.

奥玛的孩子提前了一个月出生。按照世界卫生组织的建议，奥玛的身体羸弱，无法母乳喂养婴儿。世界卫生组织指出，如果喂养母乳而不是配方奶粉，早产婴儿的存活率更高。

Auma says she would rather go to the hospital milk bank than use baby formula sold in the store. Auma said the bank has helped feed her baby while she recovers from her sickness.

奥玛说，她宁愿去医院的母乳银行，也不愿购买商店出售的婴儿配方奶粉。奥玛表示，在身体恢复期间，银行帮助她喂养孩子。

Kenya's Ministry of Health launched the milk bank plan in partnership with PATH, a U.S.-based nonprofit health organization. The project’s goal is to address the problem of newborn deaths. Currently, Nairobi leads the country in the number of newborn deaths.

肯尼亚卫生部与美国PATH公司合作推出了母乳银行计划，后者是一家总部设在美国的非营利性卫生组织。该项目的目标是解决新生儿死亡问题。目前，内罗毕的新生儿死亡人数居全国首位。

In addition to assisting mothers who cannot breastfeed, the milk bank also helps feed babies who were born too early and those with low birth weights.

除了可以帮助无法母乳喂养的产妇，母乳银行还帮助喂养早产婴儿和低出生体重婴儿。

Fifty-eight babies have been helped by the milk bank so far. Hospital workers say the mothers are leaving with healthier newborns. "Though the project is still very young, we have noted that the neonatal mortality rate is going down,” said Keziah Njau, the head nurse at the hospital.

截至目前，已有58名婴儿得到了母乳银行的帮助。医院工作人员表示，这些母亲带着更健康的新生儿出院。医院护士长Keziah Njau说：虽然这个项目刚起步，但我们注意到新生儿死亡率正在下降。

Dr. Elizabeth Kimani-Murage is a senior research scientist at Nairobi's African Population and Health Research Center. She helped lead the push for the Nairobi milk bank. She says research has proven that very small or sick babies who receive human donor milk have a higher survival rate than those who are fed only formula.

Elizabeth Kimani-Murage博士是内罗毕非洲人口与健康研究中心的高级研究科学家。她帮助领导了内罗毕母乳银行的建设。她说，研究已经证明，接受母乳喂养的非常小的婴儿或患病婴儿的存活率高于只吃配方奶粉的婴儿。玛丽·恩丁达是母乳捐赠者之一。

Mary Ndinda is one of the donors. She told VOA she is happy to provide her milk to help save young lives.

她告诉美国之音，她很高兴提供母乳来帮助拯救年轻的生命。

She said another reason she decided to donate was because she had a very large supply of breast milk days after giving birth to her own baby.

她说，她决定捐母乳的另一个原因是，在产下孩子几天后，她的奶水非常充足。

Officials in Kenya say they hope to set up other milk banks across the country in the future.

肯尼亚官员表示，他们希望将来在全国各地建立其他的母乳银行。

Words in This Story

formula – n. a liquid food mixture fed to babies instead of mother’s milk

neonatal – adj. of or for newborn babies

mortality – n. the number of deaths within a particular society within a specific period of time