Situação do aleitamento materno no primeiro ano de recém-nascidos prematuros tardios: estudo de coorte

Abstract

Breastfeeding is essential for child health, especially for children born prematurely. A prospective cohort study was conducted to compare breastfeeding rates in the first year of life of late preterm and term infants, and to investigate the associated factors. Mothers (n=581) were interviewed before one month, at two, three, four, six, nine and 12 months of age of the infants. The results were unfavorable for all the infants studied: 78.1% of the late preterm infants and 73.2% of the full-term infants were not exclusively breastfeeding at four months of age and only 7.6% and 23.5%, respectively, were breastfeeding at 12 months. Multivariate logistic regression analysis did not identify worse situations of exclusive breastfeeding and breastfeeding for late preterm infants after discharge from the maternity hospital. The urgent need to intensify actions to promote breastfeeding in the context studied is reinforced.