To ensure breastmilk to the new-borns in the first hour of birth, Ludhiana district administration has set up a breast milk pump bank in the premises of the mother and child hospital in the Civil Hospital, here, so that the infants receive essential nutrients, antibodies and other factors from breastmilk which are crucial for their proper growth and development.It is the first such kind of bank in the Punjab where health workers will pump out the breastmilk and will give it to the new-born as most of the new-borns unable to latch the milk or mothers face severe pain while breastfeeding, swelling or soreness or other reasons due to which crucial breastfeeding within the first hour of birth does not happen.Inaugurating the pump bank, MC Councillor Mamta Ashu, ADC Development Amit Kumar Panchal, Assistant Commissioner (UT) Dr Harjinder Singh Bedi said that the health workers will use the pumps to get the breastmilk immediately after the birth of infants and would give it to them at regular intervals.A container has also been installed to preserve the breastmilk, they said and added as many as two electric pumps, and 10 manual pumps, 16 containers and one steriliser have been given for the bank by the administration.They said that breastfeeding within the first hour and for six months is the most critical way to ensure a child's better health as it is the ideal food for infants. They said it is safe, clean and contains antibodies that help protect against many common childhood illnesses or diseases.They told breastmilk provides all the energy and nutrients that the infant needs and added as per WHO and experts, breastfed children perform better on intelligence tests, are healthy and less likely to be overweight or obese and less prone to diseases later in their lives.