OBJECTIVES: this paper focus on perceptions and experiences of women who practiced exclusive breastfeeding for a minimum period of six months. We tried to understand their attitudes and what breastfeeding meant to them in an attempt to understand how this option took place and was maintained in the group making the decision of exclusive breastfeeding. METHODS: the study was oriented by social survey qualitative methodology, with an assessment and interpretative focus. The sample was comprised of 13 lactating mothers, users of the health services network of Fortaleza, State Ceará, Brazil. The technique of choice was in-depth individual interviews. RESULTS: the complexity of breastfeeding became evident, although many times considered natural and easy to be experienced independently from the social environment where it takes place. The role played by parents and grandparents was determined as being an important element in the breastfeeding process. This study concluded that successful breastfeeding was rooted in the concepts construed by the respondents throughout their lives and in their own experiences resulting in new interpretations of concepts prior to their breastfeeding experience, as well as in the events taking place during the experience. CONCLUSIONS: such experiences are not only linked to the subjective level for they report to the dimension of real life where relationships with the healthcare professionals and services are established.
Exclusive breastfeeding; Qualitative research; Breastfeeding; Nutrition