BACKGROUND: The Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) is a nonprofit association that standardizes and facilitates the establishment and operation of donor human milk banks in North America. No study has characterized the demographics, characteristics, and geographic distribution of its donors.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Donors were eligible for inclusion if they were donors at MMBNE, provided a gestational age for their infant, and donated between 1/1/2011-9/1/2019. Data collected from donor surveys and milk collection procedures were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, t tests of independence and Mann-Whitney U tests.
RESULTS: Data were analyzed from 3767 donors. On average, donors were 32.5 years old (range 17-52) and donated more than once (mean 2.8; median 2; IQR 1-3; range 1-41). The majority of donors gave birth to term infants, lived in New England, and were not bereaved. Massachusetts had the largest proportion of donors (40.9%), however donors were located in 39 states and four countries. The median total volume donated per donor was 21904mL (741Oz). The average volume of donation per donor increased over time. Mothers who had preterm births were more likely to be bereaved (66% vs. 13%; p<0.01) and the volume of donation (mL) was associated with term versus preterm birth status respectively (p<0.01).
CONCLUSION: Donors to MMBNE were generally older, repeat donors with term infants, and broadly geographically distributed. Further research is warranted to understand additional characteristics associated with milk donation and any characteristics of mothers who are and are not able to donate milk in accordance with milk bank protocols.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/41272 |
| Date | 09 July 2020 |
| Creators | Jarmoc, Grace |
| Contributors | Brownell, Elizabeth, Symes, Karen |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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