Aleitamento materno: o que mudou em 12 anos

Abstract

Introduction: In recent decades initiatives for the promotion and protection of breastfeeding (BF) have been developed. This study was designed to evaluate the BF maintenance rate in a differentiated perinatal support hospital and compare results with those obtained in previous and similar studies.Methodology: Longitudinal prospective study including a convenience sample of newborns admitted to a maternity, from 1 February, to 30 April, 2012. Sociodemographic, perinatal and determinants of BF interruption data were collected in maternity, at three and six months and compared with similar data evaluated in studies conducted in 2000 and 2003 at the same institution.Results: Two hundred and ninety two mother/child pairs were included. Comparing with studies of 2000 and 2003, mothers had a higher mean age and educational level. In relation to the study of 2000, there was an increase in the preterm percentage and a reduction of caesarean section, infant formula needs and time to BF onset. It was found an improvement in BF rate at discharge compared to 2003. The hypogalactea remained the main cause of BF cessation. At six months, the BF interruption decision was mostly taken by the mother.Discussion/Conclusion: The demographic changes aware to the emergence of possibly different difficulties in BF promoting. At the hospital, reduction of infant formula use and time to BF onset represented improvements in this area. Such results highlight the importance of BF efforts over the years and must encourage other similar initiatives after discharge.