Postpartum women’s views on human milk banking in a city in Southeast China: a cross-sectional survey

Abstract

Background Donor human milk is the best alternative for preterm infants when their mother’s own milk is insufficient or unavailable. The development of human milk banks in China started late, and in most of these banks, the amount of donor human milk is insufficient for clinical demand. Moreover, many mothers are reluctant to use donor human milk due to safety concerns. It is important to understand the potential supply and demand of donor human milk before establishing a new human milk bank. This study aimed to understand women’s acceptance of human milk banking in Wenzhou, southeastern China. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in three community health centers in Wenzhou, southeast China, in December 2020. Data were collected from 305 postpartum women selected through convenience sampling. Sociodemographic, perinatal and breastfeeding characteristics, awareness and knowledge of human milk banking and willingness to donate human milk, and to accept donor human milk were assessed. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to explore independent predictors of willingness to donate human milk and to accept donor human milk. Results Only 17% (52/305) of our participants had heard of human milk banking prior to this survey. The prevalence of willingness to donate human milk and use donor human milk in our study was 73.4% (224/305) and 44.6% (136/305), respectively. Employment (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.30; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17, 4.50) and human milk banking knowledge (AOR 1.23; 95% CI 1.12, 1.35) were independent predictors of willingness to donate human milk. Monthly household income in the previous year (AOR 2.18; 95% CI 1.17, 4.06), awareness of human milk banking (AOR 2.41; 95% CI 1.24, 4.67) and knowledge of human milk banking (AOR 1.22; 95% CI 1.11, 1.35) were significantly associated with willingness to accept donor human milk. Conclusions In our study, awareness of human milk banks among women in the first year postpartum was low. More mothers were willing to donate human milk than to use donor human milk to feed their children. In our study, knowledge of human milk banking was a predictor of both willingness to donate human milk and willingness to use donor human milk. Programs with detailed information on human milk banking are needed to help mothers improve their knowledge and increase acceptance of human milk banking.

Donor Breast Milk Banking: Knowledge and Attitudes of Iranian Mothers

“…Believing in the altruistic nature of milk donation has been mentioned in previous studies as the most important factor (Bhoola & Biggs, 2021;Doshmangir et al, 2019). Polish mothers (84.8%) (Smyk et al, 2021) and Chinese mothers (73.4%) (Tu et al, 2022) were willing to donate milk with the most common reason being to help other infants, which is consistent with the findings of the present study. Also, the main reason for unwillingness to donate milk was insufficient breast milk (Tu et al, 2022).…”

“…Polish mothers (84.8%) (Smyk et al, 2021) and Chinese mothers (73.4%) (Tu et al, 2022) were willing to donate milk with the most common reason being to help other infants, which is consistent with the findings of the present study. Also, the main reason for unwillingness to donate milk was insufficient breast milk (Tu et al, 2022). It is notable that studies in Islamic countries have reported the poor willingness for milk donation and accepting donated milk due to cultural and religious reasons (Ergin & Uzun, 2018;Özdemir et al, 2021).…”

“…However, in Iran, most mothers consider human milk banks as a beneficial program (90.6%), which might be due to the lack of religious restrictions on milk donation through milk banks in Iran. Regarding the superiority of donated human milk to formula, consistent with the findings of Tu et al's (2022) study, 80% of the participants considered donated milk superior to formula. Moreover, Magowan et al (2020) considered the superiority of donated human milk to formula the major factor affecting milk donation and using donated milk.…”

“…The results of similar studies in Turkey reveal the growing awareness of mothers about human milk banks and milk donation; for example, mothers' awareness was reported at 9.4% by Gurol et al (2014), 28.4% by Yılmaz et al, (2018) and 95% by Alparslan and Bozkurt (2021). In China, 17% of mothers were aware of human milk banks (Tu et al, 2022). Bhoola and Biggs's (2021) study in South Africa revealed that Christian mothers were not sufficiently aware of human milk banks.…”

“…In contrast, Smyk et al (2021) study findings revealed that 69% of Polish participants received information via the internet, 10% from nurses and midwives, and 4% from physicians. A study by Tu et al (2022) found that Chinese mothers reported hospital facilities (with access to pamphlets, videos, and bulletin boards) as the most common source of information, followed by the internet, friends, relatives, and health professionals. Public media, such as radio and television, were less mentioned (Tu et al, 2022).…”