Assessment of Knowledge regarding Human Breast Milk Bank among the Nursing Officers in JIPMER Puducherry
Safeena Beevi S S, Adline Shanu, Akila, Ananda Geethan, Anjaly Suryan, Asuthosh Kumar, Aswathy, Bavithra, Bharathi and Bharath Kumar
Published: September 01, 2021.
Abstract
World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund in 1980 has stated that if the baby does not get his/her own mother’s milk, the best food for that baby is Human breast milk from another lactating mother. Donor milk has a broad range of therapeutic uses. Common reasons for prescribing donor milk are prematurity, allergies, feeding formula intolerance, immunologic deficiencies, etc. Breastfeeding is not recommended for mothers who have specific health problems. In the absence of the infant’s mother’s milk, donor milk offers the benefits of human milk for the infant, including optimal nutrition, easy digestibility, and immunological protection against many organisms. Human milk also contains growth factors that can protect immature tissue, promote maturation, particularly in the gastrointestinal tract, and promote the healing of tissue damaged by infection.
A human breast milk bank is a service that collects, screens, processes, and dispenses by prescription. Human milk is donated by nursing mothers who are biologically not related to the recipient infant. The optimum nutrition for newborn is breastfeeding, if possible for the first year.
Human milk is recognized for its numerous benefits, including tolerance to allergens, providing passive immunization, improving lipid profile, and controlling blood pressure. In studies conducted in the neonatal unit, infants fed human breast milk had fewer severe infections, less necrotizing enterocolitis, and less colonization by pathogenic organisms. The majority of mothers are encouraged to breastfeed their babies. However, breastfeeding arises when the baby is sick or admitted to the hospital, particularly in premature infants. Also, the mothers may be unable to provide an entire volume of milk due to numerous physical and emotional behaviors to breastfeeding. So, the pasteurized donor milk from a healthy mother should be the first consideration for supplementation. In such cases, the role of breast milk banks becomes crucial as these are the place where the donor milk is stored and is made available for use in vulnerable populations. India is a developing country where neonatal mortality is very alarming. Breast milk banks are essential for the control of cases of neonatal mortality and malnutrition.
Methodology-This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the level of knowledge of nursing officers regarding the human breast milk banks and to identify service-related factors associated with the level of knowledge on human breast milk banks among nursing officers. One hundred seventy-six participants were selected for the studies who fulfil the inclusion criteria of the study. A structured questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge level among the nursing officers. Both inferential statistics and descriptive statistics were used in this study.
Results-A total of 176 nursing officers were analyzed. Findings revealed that most nursing officers had inadequate knowledge (93.18%) regarding the human breast milk bank.
Conclusion-Most of the nursing officers are having inadequate knowledge regarding the breast milk bank. The study also reveals the clinical experience; the area of posting has a significant correlation in the knowledge level of the participants so that the institute can plan for in-service education programs to update the staff’s knowledge.
Keywords: Human breast milk bank; Preterm neonates; Nursing officers; Nutrition