Study of Factors Influencing Milk Donation in the First Milk Bank in Iran

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: Donating Breast Milk to a milk bank is one of the most important emerging issues in recent years. For babies who are deprived of their mother's milk the best alternative milk is the milk of other mothers. In Iran, the first Iranian milk bank was established at Tabriz Al-Zahra Hospital in 2016. Mothers Milk donors are considered as key members of the bank, and increase in the number of breast milk donors lead to the expansion of the mother milk bank. Purpose: This study aimed to explore the factors influencing on the number of donating breast milk to the Iran’s milk bank. Materials and Methods: Systematic review, qualitative study and descriptive study. A questionnaire was developed from the results of scoping review and qualitative studies were conducted to collect and analyze the data. The prepared questionnaire was completed by 204 mothers, including 51 milk donors and 153 mothers who have not donated their milks. Chi-square and logistic regression tests assisted by SPSS-24 software were used for data analysis. Results: The influential factors to milk donation were classified to four categories including factors related to the community, the health system, the individual, and family and friends. The desire to help others, employees and health professionals, having enough milk and husband's satisfaction, education during pregnancy and training by the doctor had a significant relationship with milk donation. Conclusion: The media and health centers and hospitals can raise the awareness of mothers and their families about milk donation and eliminate uncertainties about the donation ways to the milk bank. Key words: Mother milk, Milk bank, Milk donation, Donor milk