Reasons for maintaining or discontinuing exclusive breastfeeding among women assisted by a pilot project

Abstract

The World Health Organization recommends that babies should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life. Although the benefits of exclusive human breastfeeding are widely disseminated, early weaning still reaches high rates. Among the factors for such a reality are: the use of artificial nipples, the unjustified supply of human milk substitutes, inadequate management by health professionals, and people's socio-demographic characteristics, among others. With the intention of reversing this situation, some initiatives have been implemented, such as a pilot project on breastfeeding support and care. The objective of this project is to understand the reasons for maintaining or discontinuing exclusive breastfeeding among women assisted by a pilot project of breastfeeding care. This is exploratory, qualitative research that will use semi-structured interviews among women served by a breastfeeding support pilot project. The interviews will be analyzed using Thematic Analysis. The hypothesis of this research is that the monitoring by the pilot project can promote the maintenance of exclusive breastfeeding and that the people assisted by the project have the opportunity to contribute with improvements.(AU)