The Experience of Human Milk Donation-A Review

Abstract

The provision of donor human milk is recommended by the World Health Organization as the best option when a mother’s own milk is unavailable, because can significantly reduce morbidity and mortality among vulnerable infants. For preterm babies, human milk banks (HMBs) offer a lifesaving alternative to ensure timely access to human milk. Why does a mother donate her own milk? This is a question that some authors have asked themselves because from the motivation of a spontaneous gesture can start the understanding and activation of the mechanisms necessary to improve donation promotion strategies. This is the objective, for example, of a descriptive study [1] which aims to identify reasons, beliefs and feelings related to the donation based on the reports of women donors. The most frequent response from HMBANA donor mothers (Human Milk Association of North America) lies in altruistic reasons [2]. In a study conducted in Brazil [3], the leader country with the largest network of milk banks in the world, the most common reasons behind milk donation are the encouragement from health personnel with more than 60% of the 737 women interviewed, followed by the needs of children receiving milk from the bank with 25.3%. Therefore, the staff plays a fundamental role in motivating mothers to donate milk. This is probably the result of the fact that the recruitment of new donors, the increase in the volume and frequency of donations has become a priority in many Brazilian milk banks. For this, a prenatal care is carried out which, in addition to regular promotion and information on breastfeeding, combines regular preparation on the donation of the surplus milk as indicated by the World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund. On the contrary, in a Turkish study [4] that aims to assess the knowledge and point of view of mothers with respect to milk banks, through a questionnaire addressed to 440 mothers, 41% had been informed of this reality through the media for about 90%, while a minimum share received this information from healthcare professionals. It is emphasized that the media is the main source of breastfeeding promotion and that in recent decades media interest in milk sharing has grown considerably. The important fact of the work regarding the mothers’ point of view is that 70% showed to be in favor of the bank and of the possibility to donate. A similar perception is reported by a group of Australian mothers of a small pilot study [5] that wants to explore their knowledge and attitudes regarding breast milk donation and banking, in a land that is surprisingly far behind the rest of the world on this aspect: in the South of the country there are no milk banks. The women interviewed showed to be highly sensitive to the topic and available to the possibility of donating, indicating as a real need the fact to activate a promotion that should start from health professionals who represent the first and most authoritative source of information regarding child nutrition and to publicize this reality to make it more widely known. 97 donors from North America, Europe, Oceania and Asia participated in a study [6] that evaluates the reasons for milk donation through a milk sharing network on the Net. The reasons of the donation are basically with a clear prevalence of altruistic reasons followed by practical ones. In particular, 71 of them were motivated by the desire to help newborns, their mothers and their families, 59 from the excess of milk beyond the needs of their own child, 37 do not want their milk to be lost, 33 believe that human milk is important for the properties that artificial milk does not have, 15 were inspired by individual stories, 12 of them put themselves in the shoes of women who can’t produce enough milk considering it a terrible event, 9 would have liked someone to give them milk if they had been unable to produce it, 5 had previously had a similar experience due to insufficient production. In a Chilean study carried out for the purpose of interpret the perception about experiences, beliefs, and attitudes towards the donation of breast milk in woman from a hospital, they have presented knowledge of the act of donating milk, emphasizing an altruistic paradigm. They associated this act with generosity, especially for infants who do not have access to breast milk directly from their mothers [7].