Orientações recebidas pelas mães de crianças com fissura labiopalatina Instructions received by mothers of children with cleft lip and palate

Introduction: Cleft lip and palate are among the most common congenital malformations. In health, the process-oriented training program in breastfeeding counseling is of fundamental importance to the mothers’ knowledge construction process. Objective: The aim of the present study is to identify the breastfeeding support received by mothers of children with cleft lip and palate. Patients and Methods: We carried out a descriptive cross-sectional study involving 100 mothers of children with cleft lip and palate, which attend a rehabilitation center for craniofacial malformations of a University in the Southern region of Minas Gerais State. We applied a questionnaire composed of 15 objective information-seeking questions that presented relevancy to the study objectives. Results: Physicians and nurses were the professionals who provided breastfeeding support to mothers of children with cleft lip and palate. Breastfeeding support was the focus issue provided by 77.94% of the physicians and 60.29% of the nurses. When introducing soft foods, 72.06% of the support information was given by physicians and 17.65% by nurses. Finally, physicians provided 90.48% of the support information and nurses 38.10%. Postoperatively, the support information was provided by physicians (95.24%) and by nurses (42.86%). Conclusions: We identified important situations in which the multidisciplinary team should provide support information to mothers of children with cleft lip and palate. We emphasize that it is critical that this support information must be based on solid scientific evidence. In addition, the participation of these professionals should be targeted toward the development of scientific studies and the search for the best evidence for health.