Prevalence of breastfeeding and associated factors among adolescent mothers of Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais

• Autor(a) principal: Oliveira Izidoro, Natália
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Milagres Resende Chitarra, Fernanda, Andrade Silva, Lorena, Bortolini Magevski, Karolina, Ferreira Franco, Mateus, Magalhães da Rocha, Luíza, Celestino Schneider, Bruna, de Oliveira Simões, Milena
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: HU Revista (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.ufjf.br/index.php/hurevista/article/view/35587
• topic: Pregnancy in Adolescence; Breast Feeding; Cross-sectional Studies; Gravidez na Adolescência; Aleitamento Materno; Estudos Transversais

Introduction: The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding (BF) for the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding with complementary foods for up to ≥2 years. For nursing mothers, breastfeeding offers benefits such as protection against type II diabetes, faster return to pre-pregnancy weight and increased spacing between pregnancies. However, the prevalence of breastfeeding in Brazil (2013) was only 56%, with adolescence being a risk factor for non-breastfeeding and early weaning. Objective: Analyze the prevalence of BF at four months after delivery and its associated factors among adolescent mothers in the city of Governador Valadares, MG. Material and Methods: Cross-sectional study, part of a research entitled "Food consumption of pregnant adolescents and postpartum weight retention: a cohort study". A census was carried out covering all adolescent mothers (age <20 years) residing in the city who gave birth in the three local maternity hospitals between 10/2018 and 10/2019. Data were obtained through a questionnaire in the first 48h postpartum and in the 4th month postpartum. Data were analyzed using Stata®16.1 software. Results: 367 mothers were interviewed (response rate 98.6%) with a mean age of 17.6 years (±1.57). Four months after birth, of 317 interviewed mothers, 75.4% maintained breastfeeding, and only 25.9% offered exclusively breast milk. Conclusion: Despite the high intention to breastfeed, there is a low prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding at the 4th month postpartum. Less education, smoking, young maternal age and working out were risk factors for a shorter duration of BF maintenance. It should be considered that lactation is surrounded by a great emotional charge and, in adolescence, there are other psychological, physiological factors and inexperience to deal with the maternity, requiring a strong professional support network during the prenatal periods, childbirth and postpartum.