EDUCATIONAL ACTIONS IN HEALTH FOR THE PROMOTION AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF BREASTFEEDING: AN EXPERIENCE REPORT

Abstract

Breast milk is a nutritious food that gives the newborn unparalleled benefits and should be offered exclusively to the child from birth to six months of age. The nutrients contained in breast milk are sufficient to meet the infant’s needs and contribute to its proper growth and development. With the help of various means of communication and information, the various benefits of exclusive breastfeeding for the health of the child, as well as for the health of nursing mothers, have been propagated, but it is still possible to verify the prevalence of early weaning in children and identify social factors. correlated with this practice. According to research carried out, Brazil has been showing an exclusive breastfeeding rate among children under four months of age of 60%, those under six months of age of 45.7% and the prevalence of continued breast milk in the first year of life of 53.1 % and 60.9% in children under two years old (UFRJ, 2020). The relevance of the analysis on the importance of health education for nursing mothers on exclusive breastfeeding as a complete source of nutrition and health for the mother-baby binomial is essential to increase the prevalence of breastfeeding and combat early weaning. This work is an experience report on health education activities for pregnant women, puerperal women and nursing mothers developed during the training process of the Multiprofessional Residency produced from the experience of residents of the professional centers of Nutrition and Nursing in a Unit of Family Health in the city of João Pessoa-PB, from 2020 to 2021. The objective of this study was to refer to the educational practice in an integrated way of these health centers in relation to the benefits of breast milk, its promotion and the prevention of weaning in Primary Health Care, during the training process in the Multiprofessional Residency. This work is a descriptive study with a qualitative approach, based on actions to promote lasting breastfeeding, during prenatal consultations and conversation circles with women and their families in daily care, with the aim of perform qualitative and humanized reception. Dialogues with exchanges of knowledge and experiences, disseminating the guidelines of the Ministry of Health on breastfeeding, were recommended aiming at the emancipation and self-care of women during the breastfeeding phase. It was verified during the follow-ups that some pregnant women and nursing mothers evaluated had some knowledge about the time and benefits of exclusive breastfeeding, however, the lack of safety and guidance from others may present themselves as factors that favor early weaning. Thus, it is clear that health education for this target audience makes it possible to know the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding in a more comprehensive way and can identify the main factors that interfere in this phase. Thus, further studies on the subject are necessary to formulate strategic actions so that mothers can breastfeed and experience each stage of this process in a broad and unrestricted way.