555 - Cultural Influence on Mothers' Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Pasteurized Donor Human Milk in the Palestinian Territories and Israel

When mother’s milk is not available, donor human milk (DHM) is recommended to provide the infant with human milk. Culture influences mothers’ decisions regarding the use of Donor Human Milk (DHM). Mothers' knowledge and attitudes regarding DHM has not been previously evaluated in the Palestinian Territories or Israel.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine mothers' knowledge and attitudes regarding DHM.

Design/Methods: A prospective, descriptive study using snowball sampling. Mothers were recruited through social media sites using an online questionnaire. Chi-square, t-test and logistic regression analyses were used. A power analysis was performed, IRB approval was received.

Results: Eighty mothers participated in the study, 53 (66%) Arab and 27 (34%) Jewish. Thirty-three (41%) were from the Palestinian Territories and 47 (59%) from Israel. Twenty-seven (34%) of the mothers were Muslim, 24 (32%) Christian and 27 (34%) Jewish. Most (54%) reported that formula is a better option for feeding an infant when mother’s own milk (MOM) is not available. Thirty-nine percent had not heard about DHM and 34% did not know about the benefits of DHM. Most (64%) did not know if Human Milk Banks (HMB’s) are safe and trustworthy. Few knew how to collect and store human milk (HM) when donating to a HMB (31%) or to a friend or relative (50%). Thirty-nine percent would donate to a HMB and 56% would donate to a friend or relative. Only 29% would receive HM from a HMB and 33% from a friend or relative. Nine percent of Muslim mothers reported that milk banks were safe or trustworthy compared to 70% Jewish and 29% Christian (p< 0.001). Thirteen percent of Muslim mothers stated DHM was permissible compared to 71% Christian and 96% Jewish (p< 0.001). Muslim mothers were 17.5 times more likely (OR=17.5, CI 4.3-71.4) and Christian mothers 4.9 times more likely (OR=4.9, CI 1.451-16.552) to prefer formula as a better option than Jewish mothers. Muslim mothers were 59 times less likely (OR=0.017, CI=0.003-0.101) and Christian mothers 8 times less likely (OR=0.130, CI=0.024-0.687) to donate human milk to a friend or relative than Jewish mothers. There were no differences between Arab mothers living in the Palestinian Territories and Israel.

Conclusion(s): Mothers in the Palestinian Territories and Israel have low knowledge and a negative attitude regarding DHM and HMBs. Mothers’ knowledge and attitudes were significantly correlated to their religion. We speculate that culturally appropriate information regarding the benefits of donor human milk could improve knowledge and attitudes towards DHM in this population.