Perception of mothers on breastfeeding in the context of neonatal hospitalization
International Journal of Development Research
Perception of mothers on breastfeeding in the context of neonatal hospitalization
Received 28th June, 2017; Received in revised form 05th July, 2017; Accepted 08th August, 2017; Published online 29th September, 2017
Copyright ©2017, Floriacy Stabnow Santos et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Not all children in the neonatal intensive care unit can be breastfed by their mothers within the first few hours or days of life. The objective of this study was to know the perception of the puerperae in relation to breastfeeding their children hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units, and the feelings experienced. Descriptive, cross-sectional, qualitative study, carried out from March to April 2016 with mothers assisted at a human milk bank. Data were collected through interviews that were recorded and later transcribed verbatim. The analysis of the data identified three thematic categories: The importance of breastfeeding for the hospitalized baby; The importance of milking in the milk bank; and Feelings experienced by the mother when seeing the hospitalized child. Mothers realized the importance and benefits of breastfeeding and milking. However, with the child's hospitalization, they presented various feelings regarding the neonate's health, such as fear, suffering, anguish, insecurity and faith.
