Questionnaire on the breastfeeding and the donation of 70 mothers\donors.

Abstract INTRODUCTION In feeding premature babies, the first choice is the fresh milk from mother and if this is not possible, the donated milk from the HMBs. The support to the donation of the human milk have proved to be an efficient method of promotion to the breastfeeding. OBJECT The aim is to know the motivations and the experience of the donation to draw lessons for the improvement of our activity about the promotion of breastfeeding and the donation of the milk. MATERIAL AND METHODS 70 donors have been recruited. The questionnaire includes 15 questions which relate to the breastfeeding and donation. It focuses on data concerning the possible factors which favor the breastfeeding linked to the donation and to the subjective description of the donation’s experience and of personal suggestions. RESULTS 67,7% of the interviewed women was made aware of the possibility to donate by the direct information from the HMB staff; for the 83,3% of donors there is an altruistic reason at the base of the donation. For the 24,14% it was the second or third experience. The length of the breastfeeding together with the donation exceeds about 2 months the time occurred for the other sons without donation. For 61,76% it was not demanding to donate the milk and for 75,86% the donation is considered a factor which favors the breastfeeding. Some donation’s experiences were very intense and captivating. CONCLUSIONS The conclusions were categorized into: input received, data sharing and key messages from which operational proposals arose.