OBJECTIVES: Newborn babies born by caesarean section often experience delayed or no skin-to-skin contact after birth and early breastfeeding. In many cases, the mother and newborn are placed separately, limiting breastfeeding on demand. Sometimes, as part of hospital care, the newborn may be given complementary feeding or pacifier feeding, which may contribute to the development of lactation disorders.

METHODS: A quantitative, cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire was conducted between 26/03/2021 and 18/07/2021. Non-random, purposive expert sampling included biological motherhood and at least one child cared for in the home as inclusion criteria. Exclusion criteria were premature delivery, pregnancy with first child, and omission of compulsory questions in the questionnaire or incomplete or unintelligible answers (n=2008). The questionnaire asked participants about sociodemographic data, mode of delivery, postpartum circumstances, breastfeeding, method and duration of feeding the child. Data were processed using SPSSv2.5 (p<0.05).

RESULTS: Two-thirds of children born by caesarean section do not have skin-to-skin contact after birth (p<0.001). Non-rooming-in placement may increase the incidence of more frequent complementary feeding (p<0.001), and may also shorten the duration of exclusive breastfeeding (p<0.001). The duration of breastfeeding may also be negatively affected by the timing of feeding (p=0.007) and the use of pacifiers (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: The mode of delivery and, necessarily, the postpartum circumstances affecting the mother and the newborn can influence the achievement of breastfeeding and the duration of exclusive and partial breastfeeding.