A Multicenter Study for the Determination of Health Care Staff's Knowledge and Views about Breast Milk Banks

Abstract

Objective: One of the most ideal source that can be used are milk banks in the absence of infants fed with breast milk for any reasons. Health care staff's knowledge and views are essential for the continuation of breastfeeding. Therefore, the study was determination of nurse, midwife and physicians' knowledge and views to breast milk banks who works in the area of women's health and children's health. Methods: The descriptive study conducted in Ankara and Malatya. The sample consists of 344 nurses, midwives and physicians who worked in clinical practice and obtained informed consent about the study. The data collected using a form which was developed by researchers in February and October 2014. Results: A 49.7% of participants were between 21-30 years of age, 64.5% had bachelor's degree, 50.3% were nurses, 23.0% were physicians. The mean knowledge score of nurses about breastmilk banks was 3.39 +/- 2.40, midwifes' score was 3.33 +/- 1.84, physicians' score was 5.50 +/- 2.56. The mean knowledge score of physicians was significantly higher than the mean knowledge score of nurses and midwives (p<0.05). The mean attitude score of nurses, midwives and physicians were respectively (n=173)=27.02 +/- 6.34, (n=92)=24.29 +/- 5.98, and (n=79)= 30.91 +/- 6.14. While the mean attitude score of nurses was found significantly higher than midwives (p<0.05), physicians' mean attitude score was significantly higher than nurses and midwives (p<0.05). There was a statistically significant positive correlation between participants' mean scores of knowledge and attitude about breastmilk banks (r=0.597, p=0.000). Conclusion: Consequently, health care staff should be informed about this matter. It was suggested that providing the necessary conditions, breast milk banks could be established in Turkey.