Acceptability of donor breastmilk banking among health workers: a cross-sectional survey in Zimbabwean urban settings

Abstract

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that donor human milk is superior to artificial infant formula in situations where the baby cannot feed on the mother’s breastmilk. The purpose of this study was to determine the acceptability of donor human milk banking among health workers in Zimbabwean urban settings. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted among 535 health workers and 15 key informants. Three referral hospitals were purposively selected and systematic random sampling was used to select the health workers. The study was conducted between October 2017 and October 2018. Results The concept of donor human milk banking was acceptable among health workers. One-third (31%) of the study participants reported that they would accept donor breastmilk for their children while 56% of them would encourage their clients to donate breastmilk. Acceptance of donor human milk banking was associated with a high level of knowledge on breastmilk banks (p = 0.009) and the study participants’ health profession (p = 0.001). Clinical staff were more receptive to donor human milk banking compared to non-clinical health workers. Donor human milk banking was not associated with religion (p = 0.498) or marital status (p = 0.714). Conclusions The results showed that health workers and policy informers would accept the establishment of breastmilk banks subject to resource availability. Commitment to the establishment of breastmilk banks was moderately acceptable among opinion leaders responsible for spearheading health and nutrition policies.

Rural Nurses’ Views on Breastmilk Banking in Limpopo Province, South Africa: A Qualitative Study

“…Similarly, a study conducted in SA reported that most healthcare professionals are more familiar with the breastmilk bank and that they understand the importance of donated breastmilk [ 23 ]. A study in Zimbabwe reported that healthcare professionals accepted the concept of human milk banking [ 19 ]. This may be because healthcare professionals understand the importance of breastmilk and breastmilk banks.…”

“…Another study in SA, KZN, supports the findings from the current study, where healthcare workers articulated certain cultural or religious beliefs that could have a huge influence on the acceptability of donated milk [ 25 ]. However, in a study conducted in Zimbabwe among healthcare workers, there were no religious issues associated with breastmilk donation [ 19 ]. Education is therefore needed to clear the misconceptions regarding breastmilk banking.…”

“…Nurses usually have a great influence on a mother’s breastfeeding initiation by increasing their knowledge about breastfeeding [ 33 ]. Furthermore, healthcare workers are the most likely people to encourage mothers to use donated milk [ 19 ]. It was also reported that in this area, caregivers mostly rely on healthcare workers, who advise them on accurate information that is most beneficial for their infants [ 34 ].…”

“…A study conducted in Zimbabwe (a developing country) reported that most of the healthcare workers had sufficient knowledge regarding breastmilk banks and that participants would accept the DBM to be fed to their own children. The participants were willing to donate and mostly would encourage the mothers to donate and use donated milk from the bank [ 19 ]. A study conducted in Indonesia indicated low acceptability of DBM among healthcare workers and most mothers due to the fear of transmission of diseases from the donated milk [ 20 ].…”

Correlation between Knowledge and Attitude to the Behavior of Health Workers Regarding Acceptance of Human Milk Bank in General Hospital Dr. Soetomo Surabaya

“…In this study, most of the subjects were female (62%) compared to the male (38%). A study on the acceptance of HMBs for health workers conducted in Zimbabwe showed that the majority of health workers were women, which was 72%, while for men it was 28% [11]. According to Sunaryo (2004), a person's behavior is influenced by several factors, one of which is genetic or endogenous factors, genetic factors originating from within the individual, including gender.…”