Breastfeeding promotion in hospitalized infants as a non-pharmacological intervention for pain relief

Objective To verify whether breastfeeding promotion was used as a non-pharmacological intervention for pain relief in hospitalized infants. Methods This observational, cross-sectional, retrospective, and descriptive study was conducted with infants older than 24 hours in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary hospital from 2019 to 2021. The data were subjected to descriptive and inferential analysis. Ethical precepts were respected. Results Fifty-three infants were included. Breastfeeding was performed in 79.2% of male infants (57.1%), without congenital malformations (92.9%), with adequate weight for gestational age (64.3%), pain assessment through the face (61.9%) and in room air (100%; p<0.001). Conclusion Breastfeeding was a non-pharmacological intervention performed exclusively on the infants included in this study, and further research is needed to implement this practice.