Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on breastfeeding and health promotion: perceptions of breastfeeding women

This article aims to understand the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on bre-astfeeding and health promotion actions within primary care from the perception of breastfeeding women. This qualitative study was developed with 24 women who breastfed during the first year of the pandemic. Data were analyzed using Content Analysis and interpreted in the light of the Interactive Breastfeeding Theory (IBT). The pandemic affected the vulnerability of the mental health of breastfeeding women, entailed difficul-ties for the continuity of breastfeeding and early insertion of formulas, impacted COVID-19 pre-ventive measures in breastfeeding, and produced changes in the work of breastfeeding women. Fur-thermore, areas for improvement were identified in health promotion actions and the mother-child binomial support due to the interruption of chil-dcare visits. Actions to promote child health in primary care were unsatisfactory. However, most study participants maintained exclusive breastfe-eding for the first six months, which could adver-sely affect child morbimortality.