Surrounded by incubators, a red tube snaking into her tiny nose, four-day-old Grace-Ella is being fed donated breastmilk at the only facility in Kenya that offers the life-giving service.

The breastmilk bank at Pumwani Maternity Hospital is one of very few across sub-Saharan Africa, and is especially helpful for premature babies, of which roughly 134,000 are born each year in Kenya.

Mothers who give birth prematurely are often unable to produce breastmilk and must rely on formula, which can be less nutritious and increases the risk of infection, especially since water is often contaminated.

The milk bank in Nairobi, established in 2019 with the support of British aid money and PATH, an NGO, allows babies like Grace-Ella to benefit from the generosity of others.

"It was super-exciting,"

See Full Page