Social representations about support for breastfeeding in a group of breastfeeding women

Fabiana Swain Müller1, Isilia Aparecida Silva

  • 1Universidade de São Paulo, RN, Brasil. muller_metne@terra.com.br

This study aimed to get to know the social representations about support for breastfeeding in a group of breastfeeding women, as well as to identify the actions in their social environment these women perceive as supportive in their breastfeeding processes. Data were collected through a qualitative approach, using recorded semistructured interviews, organized in accordance with the Collective Subject Discourse and analyzed under the premises of Social Representations Theory. Results showed that the representations of women in this study about support for breastfeeding consist of actions available in the hospital, family and work contexts. In these women's perspective, support is a broad phenomenon that involves aspects of encouragement, promotion and protection to breastfeeding.

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