title: A method for the evaluation of primary health care units' practice in the promotion, protection, and support of breastfeeding: results from the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
abstract: A method to assess the effectiveness of primary health care (PHC) units in enabling mothers to breastfeed was developed from the tool used for accreditation of baby-friendly hospitals. A 10-step scoring system assessed the extent to which procedures known to be effective at extending breastfeeding duration were applied within PHC units. Using this method, 13 PHC units showed a fair performance, whereas 11 performed poorly in the state of Rio de Janeiro. More babies younger than 6 months were being exclusively breastfed in fair performance than in poor performance units (38.6% vs 23.6%, respectively, P < .001). Twice as many pregnant women and mothers in fair performance units (61.9%) were satisfied with the support provided for breastfeeding than in poor performance units (31.4%). The differences were not explained by hospital care or working status of the women. The association found between structure, process, and outcomes support the validity of the method.
authors: Breastfeeding Program at the Rio de Janeiro State Health Office. RJ, Brazil.
authors: Maria Inês Couto
authors: MI
authors: de Oliveira
authors: Luiz Antonio Bastos
authors: LA
authors: Camacho
authors: Alison E
authors: AE
authors: Tedstone
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000592:standards; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D018743:Perinatal Care / Q000592:standards*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D012944:Social Support