Beliefs and opinions of lactating mothers on breast milk banking: a qualitative study

Despite all the programs that support breastfeeding, feeding babies only with breast milk for six months is not at the desired level in all societies. Babies who cannot be breastfed for various reasons are fed with formula. However, formula cannot replace breast milk. For this reason, breast milk banking has been a solution for babies not to be deprived of breast milk. Although there are 281 active and 18 planned breast milk banks in Europe, there are no milk banks in Turkey due to religious beliefs. Therefore, our study was conducted in a qualitative design to determine the beliefs and views of breastfeeding mothers about breast milk banking. The universe of the research consisted of women who applied to Gaziantep Healthcare Family Health Center. The sample consisted of 30 mothers determined by purposive sampling method. The data were collected using the descriptive features form, the adult perception scale about breast milk, and the semi-structured interview form. Ethics committee and institutional permissions were obtained for the study. Data were analyzed with the MAXQDA qualitative research program. In our study, almost all of the mothers did not have detailed information about breast milk banking, they found milk banking to be religiously objectionable, they stated that it was forbidden for milk brothers to marry, they could be a wet nurse if needed, more than half of them did not want their babies to have a wet nurse, and half of them did not want to have a wet nurse if only the mother and baby were informed. It has been determined that they can use the banks and if they are in a difficult situation, they will only demand wet nurses from their close circles. As a result, breastfeeding mothers stated that milk bank is a good practice, but it is religiously objectionable. It has been determined that if the milk is not mixed, if the information of the mother and the baby is given to the families, if the sex of the babies is the same, if the cleanliness and hygiene issues are taken into consideration, they can donate milk to these banks and buy and use milk in case of need.