BREASTFEEDING: AWARENESS OF PREGNANT WOMEN ON THE IMPORTANCE OF BREASTFEEDING IN THE FAMILY HEALTH STRATEGY

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated the awareness and the importance given to breastfeeding by pregnant women attending the Family Health Strategy in a neighborhood in the Serra Catarinense region, Brazil. Materials and Methods: This was aquantitative and qualitative study using an exploratory-descriptive method. A total of 20 pregnant women were surveyed through a questionnairewith multiple choice and open questions about prenatal appointments, in order to check their understanding on breastfeeding. After this procedure, home visits to the pregnant women were scheduled for guidance.The quantitavedata were analyzed by basic descriptive statistics, in order to characterize the sample, andthe qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis. Results:The participants were in different periods of pregnancy, ranging from 4 to 38 weeks. As for data analysis, it was noticed that the average number of prenatal appointments was 3.9 (DP=1.33). Breastfeeding is seen by these pregnant womenas an essential act to the development and healthy growth of the newborn. This study revealed that the pregnant women had prior knowledge about breastfeeding, including correcthold and minimum time of breastfeeding. Conclusion: The majority of surveyed women had children;all of them had made at least one prenatal appointment,and about half of them had had more than five appointments. Only half of them claimed to have the habit of reading about breastfeeding. Most of them had no doubts about breastfeeding, which can be associated to the fact that the majority were notprimigravidae, or that difficulties may arise after pregnancy exclusively associated with the act of breastfeeding. DESCRIPTORS Breastfeeding.Health Knowledge.Pregnant Women.