The journey of mothers who experience difficulty to breastfeed

Purpose: to understand the journey of mothers who face breastfeeding difficulties. Methods: a study comprising 10 nursing mothers of full-term infants who had difficulty breastfeeding and attended the Human Milk Bank. Data were collected through the application of a semi-structured questionnaire about breastfeeding difficulties, answered through directed interviews conducted and recorded using the Google Meet platform, transcribed into a Microsoft Word document and analyzed qualitatively. For the qualitative analysis of the data, the ATLAS.ti software was used. Results: nipple fissure was the most frequent interference (90%), 40% of the participants had problems related to latching, 20% of the infants presented alteration of the lingual frenulum, 40% of the sample reported weak/insufficient milk, and 10% had postpartum depression. Among the professionals/services consulted, maternity hospital, emergency care unit, basic health unit, Pediatrics, Gynecology, Dentistry and Breastfeeding Consultancy were cited. Six of the ten mothers were unable to maintain breastfeeding until their infants were six months old. Conclusion: nursing mothers share similar aspects regarding the stages of difficulty emergence, problem identification, and the journey, often long, to establishing effective breastfeeding.