Knowledge of mother regarding wet nursery and breast milk banking

Abstract

Objectives: This study was carried out to determine the knowledge level of mothers regarding breast milk banking and wet nursery. Materials and Methods: Target population of the study planned as a definitive and cross-sectional type was created for all mothers who gave birth in a state hospital in Bursa province between December 2017 and March 2018; the study was completed with 406 mothers who recently gave birth. The data were collected with a total of 32 questions prepared by the researchers in accordance with the literature. IBM SPSS Statistics 22 (IBM SPSS, Turkey) program was used to evaluate the data. Results: It was detected that the average age of mothers who participated in the study was 28.10±5.26; 31.8% (n=129) were primary school graduates; and 88.2% (n=258) were not working. It was detected that 54.9% (n=223) of mothers gave birth with normal delivery and most of them (92.4% n=375) breastfed their baby. It was seen that more than half of the mothers (56.4% n=229) did not want to be a wet nurse for someone they do not know; and 81% (n=329) of mothers would not accept wet nursing from someone they do not know if their baby needed breast milk. It was detected that 3/4 of mothers (73.20% n=297) did not know about Breast Milk Banking (ASB). When the reason they did not want to benefit from ASB was inspected, 44.9% (n=115) of mothers stated that they did not trust breast milk banking. The rate of mothers who wanted to be a wet nurse for a baby whose mothers they do not know in nuclear families (35.3%) was found significantly higher compared to mothers in extended families (p: 0.016; p<0.05). Conclusion: It was determined that mothers who participated in the study had insufficient knowledge about breast milk banking and had various concerns about breast milk and ASB. Educating mothers, raising the awareness of the society, raising awareness of the importance of breast milk and comprehensively addressing their concerns (security, religious concerns, etc.) in creating solutions is crucial.