Introduction:

The lactary became active in Paraguayan hospitals to contribute to maintain or restore the nutritional health of hospitalized patients through nutritional intervention.

Objetive:

To characterize the lactary operating at reference hospitals in Asuncion and the Central Department, in 2014, to determine their adequacy to international standards.

Materials and Methods:

We conducted a descriptive and observational study by direct observation of the lactary and a survey, based on the guidelines of SEDILE (technical guidelines for dietary milk services) and CEFE (enteric formula center). Statistics: Each variable assessed by SEDILE criteria was assigned a point value according to the presence (1) or absence (0) of the particular criterion and compared to the total data collected in the survey. Variables determined were qualitative and binary (presence or absence), and described with percentage frequency distribution. Central tendency and dispersion measures were used for quantitative variables.

Results:

Seven lactary from public hospitals were included, of which two were dedicated to extraction of breast milk. Overall availability of physical resources was 55% (range 38-80%), of equipment, 42% (range, 27-62%), of organization charts and job description manuals, 55% (range, 25-75%), and standard and procedures manuals 59% (range, 27-80%).

Conclusions:

The greatest shortfall in the lactary studied was of equipment, followed by physical resources and organization and job function manuals.

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