Abstract

CARDALDA, Elsa B. et al. Factores facilitadores y dificultades para una lactancia exitosa en diferentes grupos ocupacionales de madres puertorriqueñas. Rev. Puertorriq. Psicol. [online]. 2012, vol.23, pp. 91-108. ISSN 1946-2026.

In Puerto Rico breastfeeding has decreased both in the initiation and duration of this practice. Such trend is problematic because there is a consensus in the literature regarding the medical and psychological benefits of breastfeeding for the health of children and their mothers. The objective of this study was to examine different factors that facilitate or hinder the practice of breastfeeding between mother and child. As a first step a questionnaire was designed to identify the difficulties that Puerto Rican mothers face to breastfeed their children. In a second step, mothers were asked which factors facilitated the process of breastfeeding. These two groups of factors (difficulties and facilitators) were examined in different occupational groups of Puerto Rican mothers (housewives, health professionals, students of psychology, psychologists and para-professionals) and analyzed together with other variables (age and number of children). The facilitators for breastfeeding which predominated were: knowledge, family support and medical support. The difficulties encountered most frequently were: returning to work and lower production of milk.

Keywords : Breastfeeding; Puerto Rican mothers; occupational groups.

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