Lactancia maternaprevalencia y factores asociados. Análisis de una encuesta

Resumo

Introduction: Breastfeeding is beneficial for the health of children and their mothers. However, its prevalence in Spain does not meet the objectives established by the WHO. Objectives of the study: Main objective: Know the status of breastfeeding in the municipality of Bertamiráns Secondary objectives: 1. Know the causes of premature abandonment of BF by mothers 2. Evaluate the effectiveness of the childbirth preparation classes taught at this health center 3. Explore the causes of non-initiation / abandonment of BF Methods: The population studied consists of a sample of 154 mothers attending the paediatric department in the Medical Centre of Bertamiráns. A telephone survey was carried out in order to establish the prevalence of breastfeeding, the reasons why it was not started or abandoned and to describe the factors associated to its continuity or absence. Results: Our study found that 68.88% of newborns were breastfed (48.70% exclusive, 20.13% mixed) whereas 31.12% were fed with artificial milk. At the age of 3 months, breastfeeding was maintained in 59.79% while artificial milk increased to 40.21%. At the age of 6 months, breastfeeding decreased to 34.68% and 65.32% of the children were being fed artificially. The meanduration of EBF and BF was 2.4 and 8.3 months respectively (Table 3). Conclusions: This study shows that the prevalence of breastfeeding in the council of Ames (34.68% at the age of 6 months) is in line with the average in Galicia, although it is still below the WHO recommendations.