Bridging Awareness and Practice Regarding Human Milk Donation among Postnatal Mothers: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Human milk donation and human milk banking have been recognised as playing a significant role in enhancing neonatal outcomes, especially among preterm or low birth weight infants. Despite the recognised benefits of donor human milk, there is low utilisation due to low levels of awareness, cultural issues, and safety concerns among mothers. Aim: To assess maternal awareness, perceptions, behavioural practices and determinants regarding human milk donation and human milk banking among postnatal mothers, and to explore sociodemographic and obstetric factors that affect their willingness to donate or accept donor human milk. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 120 postnatal mothers at Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India over a period of 9 months, from September 2025 to May 2026. A structured questionnaire was used to assess awareness of human milk donation and banking, maternal perceptions, practices related to breast milk expression, storage and donation, willingness to donate and accept donor milk, barriers to donation and associated socio-demographic and obstetric determinants. The analysis of the study was done using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of the study were considered statistically significant if the p-value was <0.05. Results: Among the 120 mothers, 115 (95.8%) had average awareness and 98 (81.7%) demonstrated a high positive perception toward human milk donation. Although 89 (74.2%) had expressed and 71 (79.7%) had stored breast milk, only 19 (15.8%) had donated milk. Nevertheless, 85 (70.8%) were willing to donate in the future and 80 (66.7%) were willing to accept donor milk if required. Lack of understanding (37.1%) and religious/cultural reasons (20.0%) were the most common barriers. Willingness to donate was significantly associated with age, education, occupation, residence, parity, mode of delivery, previous breastfeeding experience, and awareness of human milk banks (p<0.05). Conclusion: Although the postnatal mothers showed a positive perception towards human milk donation, they exhibited average awareness and low behavioural practices. The high willingness to donate indicates that there is a lot of scope to improve the utilisation of donor milk.