Knowledge and attitudes of breastfeeding mothers towards breast milk banking

Introduction: This research was conducted to determine the opinions of breastfeeding mothers regarding breast milk banking. The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes of breastfeeding mothers towards breast milk banking and to determine the potential impact of education on increasing knowledge and awareness of breast milk donation. Methods: The study was carried out with 303 breastfeeding mothers who presented to the healthy child and general pediatrics clinics between April 15, 2020 and September 1, 2020, for various reasons. After a brief information session on breast milk banking, a 20-question survey was conducted face-to-face with the mothers. The questions related to breast milk banking in the survey were prepared according to the literature. The first part of the survey included demographic questions about the mothers, and the second part included questions about breast milk banking. Results: The mean age was found to be 32.6±5.9 years. 67.7% of the mothers had heard of breast milk banking before, while 73.6% did not know if there was a breast milk bank in Turkey. Additionally, 61.7% of the mothers had a positive view of donating breast milk, and 76.2% stated that they could give their milk to another baby if there was a need. As the education level of the mothers increased and the number of pregnancies exceeded three, the rates of those who considered donating breast milk and those who stated that they could use donor milk for their own children if necessary were found to be statistically significant (p <0.05). Conclusion: As the education levels and number of pregnancies of the participating mothers increased, the rates of those considering donating breast milk also increased. The most significant difference of our study compared to other similar studies is that, with the brief information provided to the mothers during the study, their knowledge and awareness increased, and they indicated that they could donate their milk to breast milk banks and use donor milk for their own children when necessary. Providing education to mothers about breast milk banks in our country can have a positive impact on establishing breast milk banks. In addition, it is believed that increasing women's education levels is important not only for their own babies but also for providing milk to all high-risk babies in the society. Keywords: Breast Feeding; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Infant; Milk Banks; Human Milk