“Only the breast milk” – meanings of mothers on exclusive breastfeeding

This is a qualitative, exploratory and descriptive study, which aimed to get acquainted with the perception of nursing mothers on exclusive maternal breastfeeding. Research subjects consisted of eleven nursing mothers in the municipality of Vitória da Conquista, located in southwestern Bahia. Data were collected by means of individual semi-structured interviews and analyzed by means of Content Analysis in the Thematic modality. Two thematic categories were built: Exclusive maternal breastfeeding in the perception of nursing mothers and The potentialities and difficulties regarding maternal breastfeeding: perceptions of nursing mothers. Results indicate that not only do nursing mothers consider the practice of exclusive maternal breastfeeding as beneficial due to the high biological value of maternal milk for the child, but also highlight several factors that can determine the course of breastfeeding, pervading economic, social, cultural and emotional dimensions