Prevalence of breastfeeding in a primary care center in San Fernando de Henares (Madrid)

Introduction: breastfeeding is the optimal method of feeding infants. Breastfeeding rates in Spain are far from the targets established by the World Health Organization. The primary objective of our study was to determine the prevalence of breastfeeding in our catchment area in children under 2 years of age. The secondary objectives were to determine the prevalence of breastfeeding in the first 15 days of life, at 6 months, and at 1 year.

Methods: descriptive cross-sectional observational study of children aged 0 to 24 months assigned to the Los Alperchines primary care health center in San Fernando de Henares (Madrid). A survey was conducted with a total of 123 children. We collected data on the sociodemographic characteristics of the mother as well as data on the child’s diet by means of the IHAN questionnaire. The statistical analysis was performed with the software SPSS version 26.

Results: the prevalence of breastfeeding in the sample of children aged less than 2 years was 51.35% (95 CI: 44.4-62.8). In addition, 57.6% of infants aged less than 15 days and 51% of all infants aged less than 6 months were exclusively breastfed.

Conclusions: Comprehensive efforts are required to meet WHO objectives by adopting measures to promote breastfeeding and support breastfeeding maintenance. Initiatives such as the IHAN project for primary care centers must be supported and recognized by the health authorities.