Beliefs and practices of nursing mothers and of their families in relation to breastfeeding.

Abstract

This is a qualitative study of the descriptive-exploratory kind that had the objective of finding out the beliefs and practices of nursing mothers and of their families in relation to breastfeeding. The research subjects were nine nursing mothers and eight relatives from a poor section of Porto Alegre, Brazil. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The emerged themes concern to beliefs and practices considering the benefits of breastfeeding to the breastfed baby and to the nursing mother, many of them with origin within the family context. The study enhances the importance for health professionals to learn and to support their practices on those beliefs to reach successful breastfeeding.