Introduction:

WHO recommends that during the first six months of life, infants should be fed exclusively with breast milk. From that moment, they should receive adequate and safe complementary foods, without abandoning breastfeeding at least until two years of age. Pharmacological treatment is one of the reasons for abandoning breastfeeding despite the fact that most current medications are compatible with breastfeeding.

Objective:

To determine the causes of the interruption of breastfeeding in women participants of two national virtual platforms.

Method:

Observational, descriptive study using a virtual survey of 33 women who have suspended breastfeeding from April 2015 to April 2017, participants of two virtual breastfeeding and maternity support platforms in Paraguay. Sampling not probabilistic for convenience.

Results:

The average age of 28 ± 4.2 years, mostly university, residents in the Central department. 30.3% of weaning was detected before 6 months, and only 9.0% reached 24 months of breastfeeding recommended by WHO. The causes of the most frequent interruption of breastfeeding were medication (36.4%), followed by a feeling of lack of milk (27.3%) and that the child was left hungry (18.2%).

Conclusions:

The medication represented the major cause of involuntary weaning, being compatible with breastfeeding drugs in more than half of the cases reported. The pharmacist, a professional with greater knowledge of information sources on medications, could have contributed in these cases to the preservation of breastfeeding

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