A prevalência do aleitamento materno em recém-nascidos pré-termo e suas dificuldades: revisão integrativa da literatura

Abstract

Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF) until the sixth month of life, recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), is the ideal food for promoting healthy growth and development. Especially when it comes to preterm newborns (PTNBs), they are the ones who benefit most from breastfeeding. However, despite presenting several benefits, breastfeeding has not yet reached the recommended and expected rate in Brazil, a fact that can be explained by the limitations and difficulties of newborns and mothers. Therefore, the general objective of this study was to identify the prevalence of breastfeeding in preterm newborns. Therefore, through an integrative literature review, searches were carried out for articles published in the last ten years, in the following databases: Scielo, LILACS and PubMed, using the descriptors "Breastfeeding in premature newborns", "Early weaning" , "Breastfeeding difficulties in preterm infants" and "Prevalence of breastfeeding in preterm infants". Initially, 430 articles were found, after reading the abstracts, 45 articles were selected. Those selected in full, who answered the guiding questions, totaled 13. From the results found, it was observed that there are a decrease in the prevalence of breastfeeding in preterm infants, especially after hospital discharge. Difficulties such as physiological immaturity, fear, insecurity, lack of early contact between mother and child, factors that compromise the structure of the breast and lack of guidance were the most reported for breastfeeding. Factors such as cesarean delivery, duration of mechanical ventilation, double pregnancy, extreme prematurity, greater complications during hospitalization, use of pacifiers and younger age of mothers were identified as risk factors for the interruption of breastfeeding in premature infants. Support strategies for mothers, from prenatal care to post-discharge follow-up, are still needed. In addition to the training of health professionals, in order to develop an empathetic look at the situation experienced by the mother, to support and assist them efficiently.