[Puerperal check up performed by nurses: a fact in the city of Ponta Grossa, Paraná, Brazil]

It is a quantitative research conducted through structured interview, aimed at identifying demographic (age group, civil status, education and profession) and obstetric (gestation, prenatal, nursing, postpartum) characteristics of puerperal women, as well as identifying breastfeeding problems observed during the postnatal check up. From October to December 2006, 251 puerperal women received care at the Postnatal Check up Extension Program conducted by nurses at the Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa (UEPG), Paraná, Brazil. The women were 19- to 25-years-old, they had not completed their basic education and were married housewives. They had experienced several pregnancies, many of them while in their teenage years, all had normal deliveries, had nursed, and had attended six or more prenatal checkups; thus, receiving guidance on the pregnancy-puerperal cycle. These results were useful for the implementation of municipal health policies related health promotion during the puerperal period.