Variables that influence the maintenance of exclusive breastfeeding

Abstract

This is a descriptive, exploratory and retrospective study, with a quantitative approach, performed in a low-income community in São Paulo, with the purpose to identify whether the maintenance of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) in the first six months is influenced by the following variables: early contact in the first hour after birth, permanence in joint lodging, type of delivery and type of hospital. Data were collected from 75 medical records and analyzed with the methodology of generalized estimate equations. The results showed that the variables joint lodging, type of hospital and type of delivery interfered in the maintenance of EBF; however, that was not the case with early contact. It was concluded that the EBF indexes were higher in cases where the mother and the baby remained together after the birth, in baby-friendly hospitals and after normal deliveries. It was also observed that the care received by the mother during the process of delivery and birth influences breastfeeding directly.