Breastfeeding support provided by grandmothers: An integrative review

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate how grandmothers support breastfeeding. Methods: the aim of this integrative review was to answer the following guiding question: “How do grandmothers support breastfeeding?” A search for the co-occurrence of the key-words “social network”, “maternal breastfeeding” and “family relations”, in August 2012, in the databases International Literature in Health Sciences (Medline), Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (Lilacs), Base de Datos de Enfermería em Español (CUIDEN), Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP), Base de Dados de Enfermagem (BDENF), the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Cochrane) and the virtual library Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), found 4092 articles. After inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, 20 articles were included in the study sample. The results of the studies were grouped according to similarity of topic. Results: grandmothers recognized the importance of maternal breastfeeding; constitute an example to be followed; help with domestic chores and care; provide information; and sometimes discourage maternal breastfeeding. Conclusions: the support provided by grandmothers is influenced by their own experiences and by the sociocultural environment in which they live.