Women's social space and the reference for breastfeeding practice

Abstract

This study aimed to identify agents or institutions taken as reference by women when breastfeeding. A qualitative study was carried out on 20 primiparous who were assisted, for reasons not related to breastfeeding, in the five health services selected by this study. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews carried out in the participants' households and were analyzed by content analysis in the thematic mode. We identified that health professionals play a standardize role of breastfeeding based on scientific knowledge. In the daily breastfeeding routine, the family is the first reference for women, transmitting beliefs, habits and behaviors. We believe in the valorization of the family context by the health professional, in which actions and interactions in the breastfeeding issue are developed in order to constitute the foundations for a new care model in breastfeeding. This model should, therefore, consider the practice diversity, adapting actions to the multiple roles of being mother/fortress/wife/worker in the social context.