Breastfeeding-Friendly Primary Care Unit Initiative and the relationship with exclusive breastfeeding

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding and the association with the Breastfeeding-Friendly Primary Care Unit Initiative. METHODS: Cross-sectional study, whose data source were research on feeding behaviors in the first year of life conducted in the vaccination campaigns of 2003 and 2006, at the municipality of Barra Mansa, RJ, Southeastern Brazil. For the purposes of this study, infants under six months old, accounting for a total of 589 children in 2003 and 707 children in 2006, were selected. To verify the relationship between being followed-up by Breastfeeding-Friendly Primary Care Unit Initiative units and exclusive breastfeeding practice, only data from the 2006 inquiry was used. Variables that in the bivariate analysis were associated (p-value ≤ 0.20) with the outcome (exclusive breastfeeding practice) were selected for multivariate analysis. Prevalence ratios (PR) of exclusive breastfeeding were obtained by Poisson Regression with robust variance through a hierarchical model. The final model included the variables that reached p-value ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding increased from 30.2% in 2003 to 46.7% in 2006. Multivariate analysis showed that mother's low education level reduced exclusive breastfeeding practice by 20.0% (PR = 0.798; 95%CI 0.684;0.931), cesarean delivery by 16.0% (PR = 0.838; 95%CI 0.719;0.976), and pacifier use by 41.0% (PR = 0.589; 95%CI 0.495;0.701). In the multiple analysis, each day of the infant's life reduced exclusive breastfeeding prevalence by 1.0% (PR = 0.992; 95%CI 0.991;0.994). Being followed-up by Breastfeeding-Friendly Primary Care Initiative units increased exclusive breastfeeding by 19.0% (PR = 1.193; 95%CI 1.020;1.395). CONCLUSIONS: Breastfeeding-Friendly Primary Care Unit Initiative contributed to the practice of exclusive breastfeeding and to the advice for pregnant women and nursing mothers when implemented in the primary health care network.