Social network to support women in breastfeeding: integrative review

Abstract

Objective: to identify in the literature how the social support networks for women in breastfeeding are structured. Method: integrative review carried out in PubMed, BVS, LILACS and Scielo databases, using the descriptors “Breastfeeding”, “Social Network” and “Clinical Practice Guide”. Articles in English, Portuguese and Spanish, published between 2015 and 2020, were included. Reflection articles, editorial and experience reports were excluded. Results: nine studies were analyzed, where three thematic categories emerged: Social network structure, primary and secondary; Types of support, with emphasis on emotional and in-person support and Importance of the social network for the establishment of breastfeeding, making the family and health professionals co-responsible. Conclusion: the studies unveiled that the structure of the social network of women who breastfeed is small, but with strong bonds, consisting mainly of the family nucleus, while the secondary network, consisting of health professionals, proved to be fragile and with broken bonds.