Factors influencing the cessation of breastfeeding in children under 1 year of age

Abstract

Introduction: breast milk contains all the nutrients that a child needs for its development and has several advantages over developed alternatives. It is considered the most complete vaccine of all time. Since the abandonment of exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months of life is increasing, there is a need to identify the risk factors that affect it. Objective: to determine the factors that influence the abandonment of breastfeeding in children under 1 year of age. Methods: the study has a quantitative approach of a descriptive type and a cross-sectional design, carried out in the period September 2022- January 2023. A questionnaire-type instrument was used, a survey of exclusive breastfeeding applied to 111 mothers. Results: a relationship was found with the interruption of exclusive breastfeeding: mothers who work outside the home (48,6 %), mothers who perceived milk production as insufficient (40,5 %), early use of milk formula (71,2 %); mothers with more than two children (24,3 %), were the most relevant in this study. Conclusions: the predominant maternal age is between 18-23 years, without schooling, primiparous mothers expressed their fear of insufficient milk production, it was possible to observe the predominance of mixed breastfeeding, due to the fact that most mothers presented labor impediments and almost half reported breast pain.