Impact of a Well Baby Care Program on the promotion of exclusive breastfeeding

A historical cohort of children born between January 2000 and December 2002 from low-income families attending a primary health care facility on the periphery of Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, was studied in relation to prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding. Analysis was based on a life table focusing on interruption of exclusive breastfeeding (month-by-month after birth) as the target outcome. Among the 112 children followed up from birth by the Well Baby Program, prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding in the first month of life was 95.0%, declining progressively to 81.0%, 64.0%, 53.0%, 39.0%, and 35.0%, respectively, from the second to the sixth month after birth. Median duration of exclusive breastfeeding was four months. Median duration of exclusive breastfeeding and prevalence among six-month-old infants were both higher than the Brazilian national rates and indicate the Program's adequacy in promoting breastfeeding. However, more effort should be made to increase the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding until the sixth month of life.