Justificativas médicas para prescrição de fórmula infantil a recém-nascidos sadios a termo em hospitais do Rio Grande do Norte

Abstract

Breast milk is the most complete food for newborns (NBs), and is recommended exclusively for the first six months of life. Although there are recommendations that indicate the use of commercial infant formulas (IF) in certain situations, it is still common to observe a high prevalence of prescriptions and offers of IF that do not comply with the recommendations of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI). The objective of this study was to identify the medical reasons used to prescribe IF for full-term newborns during postnatal hospitalization. This is a cross-sectional and quantitative study carried out with binomials treated in two hospitals located in Rio Grande do Norte that provide maternal and child care. Data were obtained through interviews with the postpartum woman and by consulting the medical records and notebooks of the pregnant woman and the child. Numerical data were presented as mean and standard deviation, and categorical data were displayed as absolute and relative frequencies. Among the prescriptions of IF to full-term newborns during hospitalization, 34.8% (n=39) were in accordance with the recommendations of the BFHI, such as hypoglycemia or risk of hypoglycemia (30.3%; n=34); however, 65.2% (n=73) were motivated by reasons considered unacceptable by the BFHI, the latter being especially due to difficulties in breastfeeding, representing more than half (50.9%; n=57) of all medical reasons for IF prescriptions during the postnatal hospitalization period. The main reason for prescribing/offering IF to full-term newborns during postnatal hospitalization was difficulties in breastfeeding, highlighting a gap related to the support for breastfeeding provided by health professionals while still in the hospital environment.