OBJECTIVE: To identify the maternal characteristics and welcoming actions towards mothers of infants aged less than six months associated with early liquid offer. METHODS: Cross-sectional study performed in 2007, with a representative sample of mothers of infants aged less than six months (n=1,057), users of Primary Health Care (PHC) Units, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Southeastern Brazil. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to estimate the association between explanatory variables and liquid offer, with weighing and design effect and controlled for infant age. RESULTS: Of all mothers, 32% did not receive the welcoming card in the maternity hospital, 47% did not receive guidance on breastfeeding at their first visit to the PHC unit after childbirth and 55% reported they had offered liquids to their infants. Women without at least six months of previous breastfeeding experience were more likely to offer liquids than those with such experience (OR=1.57; 95% CI: 1.16;2.13). Mothers who had not received guidance on breastfeeding at their first visit to the UBS after childbirth were 58% more likely to offer liquids than those who had received it. Liquid offer was positively associated with adolescence among women with a partner (OR=2.17; 95% CI: 1.10;4.30) and negatively associated with adolescence among those without a partner (OR=0.31; 95% CI: 0.11;0.85). Among women with less than eight years of education, those who had not received guidance on breastfeeding after childbirth were 1.8 times more likely to offer liquids than others who had received it. CONCLUSIONS: Age, marital status and previous breastfeeding experience are maternal characteristics associated with liquid offer to infants aged less than six months. Receiving early guidance on breastfeeding could reduce liquid offer to infants.
Breast Feeding; Milk Substitutes; Drinking; Maternal Behavior; Infant Nutrition; User Embracement; Cross-Sectional Studies
