Early conditions in the breastfeeding of premature newborn infants.

Purpose: To describe the breastfeeding initial conditions for premature infants.

Methods: The sample consisted on 26 mother/baby dyads. The babies had an average of 36.1 weeks corrected gestational age and were hospitalized in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Southern Brazil. Data was collected from medical records, and the observation of the dyads was conducted during feeding, using the Observation and Evaluation of the Breastfeeding Protocol. Favorable and unfavorable behaviors were registered regarding position, responses, suction, affection and anatomy of the breast. After the observation, a questionnaire was applied to the mothers.

Results: The best results refer to the position of mother/child and affection and the poorer ones to the infant responses. Statistically significant correlations by the Spearman Correlations Coefficient were observed between some items of the protocol and other study variables.

Conclusion: Most premature infants from this sample presented a satisfactory initiation on analyzed aspects referring to breastfeeding. Still, we emphasize the need of practices for breastfeeding effectiveness and its encouragement in this population.