Social support for the breast feeding of the premature infant discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit

Objective: to describe the network of social support for the breast feeding of preterm newly-born infant discharged from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Method: this is a descriptive research, with a qualitative approach, carried out after the approval by the Research Ethics Committee of SMS/RJ, under the Protocol 90/08, within the period from July to August 2008, through a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview with thirty mothers who attended to the follow-up of their preterm children, in a municipal maternity in Rio de Janeiro, and breastfed or expressed milk during hospitalization for more than seven days. The data analysis was based on Ingrid Elsen’s theory. Results: the interviews were grouped into the five attributes of Ingrid Elsen’s theory: 1) the presence; 2) the promotion of life and well-being; 3) the protection; 4) the inclusion; and 5) the orientation to life. Conclusion: it was found that the social support network in the process of breast feeding of the premature infant was the family, with great emphasis also to the nursing staff, which share the responsibility for the establishment of breast feeding in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and for the encouragement of exclusive breast feeding at home. Descriptors: nursing; maternal and child health; social support; infant, premature; breast feeding.