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Disparities in being able to donate human milk impacts upon maternal wellbeing: Lessons for scaling up milk bank service provision
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Catrin Griffiths ,
Sara Jones ,
Gillian Weaver,
Natalie Shenker
Maternal & Child Nutrition, Volume: 20, Issue: 4, Start page: e13699
Swansea University Authors:
Amy Brown , Catrin Griffiths , Sara Jones
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This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2024 The Author(s).
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DOI (Published version): 10.1111/mcn.13699
Abstract
Receiving donor human milk for a baby can have a protective effect upon parental wellbeing. A growing body of research also finds that being able to donate milk to a milk bank, particularly after infant loss, can also boost maternal wellbeing through feelings of altruism and purpose. However, most s...
| Published in: | Maternal & Child Nutrition |
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| ISSN: | 1740-8695 1740-8709 |
| Published: |
Wiley
2024
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| Online Access: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66889 |
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| Abstract: |
Receiving donor human milk for a baby can have a protective effect upon parental wellbeing. A growing body of research also finds that being able to donate milk to a milk bank, particularly after infant loss, can also boost maternal wellbeing through feelings of altruism and purpose. However, most studies are qualitative, with small sample sizes outside the United Kingdom, and often do not include the experiences of those who have been unable to donate. Our aim was therefore to examine the impact of being able to donate milk, as well as the impact of not being able to do so, using a survey containing open and closed questions in a large UK sample. Overall, 1149 women completed the survey, 417 (36.3%) who donated their milk and 732 (63.7%) who did not. Most women who donated found it had a positive impact upon their wellbeing, feeling proud, useful and that they had achieved something important. Conversely, those unable to donate often felt rejected, frustrated, and excluded, especially if they received no response or felt that restrictions were unfair. Thematic analysis found that being able to donate could help women heal from experiences such as birth trauma, difficult breastfeeding experiences, neonatal unit stays, and infant loss; however, being unable to donate could exacerbate negative emotions arising from similar experiences. A minority of women who donated experienced raised anxiety over following guidelines. These findings further extend the impacts of milk banking services beyond infant health and development and support expanded service delivery. |
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| Keywords: |
Breastfeeding, donation, donor human milk, health service delivery, lactation after loss, mentalhealth, milk bank |
| College: |
Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences |
| Funders: |
The project was supported by funding from HEFCW Research Wales Innovation Fund. N. Shenker is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at Imperial College London (grant p76489), which supported the writing of this manuscript. |
| Issue: |
4 |
| Start Page: |
e13699 |