Introduction:

Breastfeeding is understood as the healthiest, most natural and most nutritious food for the infant, and it protects him against some diseases that could appear in the course of his life. When these children cannot receive breast milk from their mothers, there is a milk donation by someone else.

Objective:

To interpret the perception of the meaning and assessment of human milk donation in chilean women from the Pehuenche community of Alto Biobío.

Methods:

It is a qualitative design with a phenomenological approach, the convenience sample consisted of nine pehuenche women between 18 and 70 years of age from march to november 2018 to whom a semi-structured interview was applied, the results obtained were analyzed of the speech through informant triangulation.

Results:

Pehuenche women showed knowledge of the act of donating human milk, and considered this fact as an act of generosity and solidarity within their culture, mainly towards infants who cannot have access to breast milk directly from their mothers.

Conclusions:

The perception that pehuenche women have about the donation of breast milk is a natural process that contributes positively to infants who receive this type of feeding, because in addition to promoting growth and development in an optimal way, it triggers feelings and positive emotions such as happiness, relief and allows you to empathize with other people. Solidarity and generosity stand out as the main motivation for this act.

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