Supporting mothers, protecting babies for long-term health: establishing a pasteurised human milk bank.

It is now very clear that early feeding practices have lifelong implications for an individual's health as well as economic and public health consequences. This article summarises some of the important reasons to prioritise breast milk feeding and introduces the Christchurch Neonatal Intensive Care Human Milk Bank. This Milk Bank was opened in 2014 to support babies and their families with the provision of pasteurised donor milk. The primary goals were to support mothers while they established their own milk supply, reduce exposure to parenteral nutrition and formula and reduce the risk of necrotising enterocolitis in this vulnerable population.

Pragmatic recycling of paper and cardboard in the operating theatre: an audit.

Despite recent legislation introduced in Scotland and motivated recycling at home, very little recycling exists within theatre environments. This study audited the introduction of recycling of paper and cardboard. All waste within a single operating theatre was collected by a dedicated team for 20 surgical cases. The collection of clean paper and cardboard packaging was limited to the theatre preparation room (TPR) and anaesthetic room (AR). No waste segregation was attempted within the operating theatre itself. The results showed that the AR produced a mean weight of 1.3kg of waste per patient (50% paper and cardboard), and the TPR produced 3.05kg per patient (33% general waste; 44% paper; 23% cardboard). Recycling saved a mean of £0.51 per case. The 54kg of recycled bags produced during the study saved 25kg CO2 emissions. This study describes a pragmatic method to recycle paper and cardboard within the TPR and AR. There are significant potential financial and environmental savings to be achieved.