Father's perception about breastfeeding in joint accommodation unit

Abstract

The objective was to verify the father's perception of breastfeeding in a rooming-in unit. This is a descriptive, qualitative research carried out in a maternity hospital in Fortaleza-CE, Brazil. Twenty parents of newborns who had started breastfeeding were interviewed. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee. The average age of the parents was 33 years old, they lived in the capital, and had 1 to 3 children; the newborns were mostly female and were born with good vitality, and breastfeeding started in the first hours of life. The speeches showed adequate knowledge of parents about breastfeeding, its benefits, and challenges involved in this process; positive perception about their participation, contribution, and influence during breastfeeding; interest and motivation to obtain adequate information and participation in health education actions related to the subject, however, there was no participation during prenatal care or postpartum period. The study is intended to contribute to the effective awareness of health professionals, especially nurses, about the influence of the role of fatherhood in health promotion during breastfeeding, to encourage and maintain breastfeeding.