[Breast feeding: importance of supportive counseling to the working mother].

This descriptive, exploratory, retrospective and transversal investigation tries to answer the following questionnaire: What is the impact that the Support Consultation to the working mother--Diagnosis Center of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile--has on breast-feeding prolongation? The population that has been studied is formed by 82 mothers attended in the Support Consultation during March '95/September '95 period and from which a number of 30 people were taken as a sample. The impact of this consultation was evaluated with an instrument employed during an interview to each mother. Data were statistically analyzed with EPIINFO, the Kaplan-Meier survival method and the Mantel-Haenszel test to compare curves of survival. During data analysis authors found that mothers are mainly young adults, stable couples, first-time mothers, with technical and/or professional educational level, chiefly working as office clerks with full-time jobs and having a significant difference between existing minimum salary and the maximum one they earn. The results of this investigation lead us to the conclusion that mothers obtained an exclusive breast-feeding and ideal weaning age. The power of resolution of the Consultation--according to mothers--was satisfactory. The support given to the mother after her reincorporation to work is the most significant intensifier factor in relation with the increase in the probability of keeping on breast-feeding. In conclusion, the Consultation has good impact.