PREVALENCE AND CONDITIONING FACTORS FOR BREASTFEEDING IN SÃO MIGUEL ISLAND

- According to the 2005/2006 National Health Inquiries, Azores is the Portuguese district with the lowest breastfeeding rates (BR): 25% and 10% at 3 and 6 months, respectively. Objective: To determine the prevalence and conditioning factors for breastfeeding in São Miguel Island. - An observational, analytic and retrospective study was conducted, applying a questionnaire to a specific population of São Miguel’s Health Care Unit between 15/09/2014 and 15/03/2015. The studied population was obtained from a convenience sample. We interviewed mothers of infants between 6 and 12 months of age. - BR at birth was 74.2%,decreasing to 17.7% at 6 months. The largest decrease in the BR was of 21%, at the end of the first month (p