Breastfeeding in preterm infants: public health policy in primary care

The importance and benefits of human milk have been well established for full-term and also preterm children.1,2 However, breastfeeding rates are lower in preterm infants.3,4 The initial survival of premature infants depends on hospital care and adequate nutritional support. Human milk provides nutrients and protection elements against infection. After hospital discharge, the patient should be treated at specialized reference centers and breastfeeding should be maintained.5--7 It is important to identify mothers at risk of not breastfeeding and who delivered babies with very low and extremely low birth weight to schedule home visits and consultations at the basic health units (UBS), especially in the first weeks after hospital discharge.8--10 An observational study with preterm infants after discharge from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit showed that support from the health teams at the UBS is required to maintain breastfeeding.11 In 2002, in the state of Minas Gerais, the Secondary Reference Viva Vida Centers (CVV) were established as a public policy aimed at reducing maternal and infant mortality. The CVV are public healthcare units, offering health care exclusively through the Brazilian Public Health Service (SUS), characterized as micro-regional average-complexity health care facilities, which must work in an integrated manner with primary and tertiary care, seeking to ensure full attention to sexual and reproductive health and provide care to at-risk children, including preterm ones. In the