Full breastfeeding during the postpartum hospitalization and mothers' report regarding baby friendly practices.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to describe the opinion of a group of postpartum women about compliance with the Ten Steps in a hospital with the intention to be certified as a Baby Friendly Hospital. METHODS: Two hundred (200) postpartum women age 20 or greater who had delivered a healthy full-term baby (37 weeks gestation) participated in the study. Data were gathered by means of a semi-structured questionnaire in the Spanish language. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-square) were used for data analysis. RESULTS: Thirty percent (30%) of participants were 21 to 26 years of age. Primiparas comprised 51% and legally or consensually married mothers comprised 89% of the study participants. Monthly family incomes with the highest frequencies were $0 to $2000 and $2001 to $3000, respectively. Full breastfeeding was being practiced by 43.5% of the mothers in the study, whereas 53.0% were breastfeeding partially. Compliance with the Ten Steps was perceived as deficient by 52% of the mothers, whereas only 5.5% perceived compliance as excellent. The perceived level of compliance with the Ten Steps is significantly associated with the type of breastfeeding (full or partial) in the inferential analyses (X(2) [3, n = 193] = 33.74, p = 0.00) and in the multiple logistic regression analyses (OR = 1.27, confidence interval [CI] = 1.14 - 1.43, p = 0.00). As the level of perceived compliance with the Ten Steps increases, the probability of full or exclusive breastfeeding also increases. CONCLUSION: Compliance with the Ten Steps of the Baby Friendly Hospital from the perspective of the postpartum mother has an impact on the type of breastfeeding.