Breastfeeding in shantytowns: an educational program through home visits.

This is a study of breastfeeding length, with and without a community educa tional program. It was done through home visits to 125 women residing in Vi la Marianais shantytowns in the city of Sao Paulo. It was found that breast feeding lasts an average of more than 6 months after the educational interv ention. When comparing the group that received education with the one that didnit, it was observed that in the former the percentage of children breas tfed for 6 months or longer was 64%, while in the control group it was 17% (p<0.001). This shows a significant increase in the number of mothers who n ursed their children after an educational program promoting breastfeeding.