Breast-feeding knowledge and attitudes of teenage mothers in Liverpool

Dewan, N., Wood, L., Maxwell, S., Cooper, C. and Brabin, Bernard (2002) 'Breast-feeding knowledge and attitudes of teenage mothers in Liverpool'. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Vol 15, Issue 1, pp. 33-37.

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Objectives To determine the knowledge and attitudes of teenage mothers towards breast-feeding. Design A questionnaire of teenage (<-20 years) and non-teenage (&GE;20 years) primigravidae attending the antenatal care services at the Liverpool Women's Hospital, during the period April-May 2000. xResults Forty teenage primigravidae and 40 non-teenage primigravidae registered for the survey. Teenagers had poorer knowledge about breast-feeding than the non-teenagers, and fewer teenagers considered breast milk the best food for their baby. More teenagers than non-teenagers planned to bottle feed [23 (57.5%) vs. 9 (22.5%), P = 0.002]. Only one teenager had knowledge about colostrum. Teenagers were more often single, had a lower level of education, higher unemployment, higher smoking frequency and less contact with a person who had previously breast-fed. Conclusion Teenage primigravidae have poor knowledge regarding breast-feeding compared with non-teenage primigravidae. A greater proportion of teenagers opted not to breast-feed compared with non-teenagers. Health education classes stressing the importance of breast-feeding should be emphasized in antenatal teenage clinics. More research is needed to understand how to improve the knowledge and motivation of adolescent girls to breast feed.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	WA Public Health > Health Problems of Special Population Groups > WA 310 Maternal welfare WQ Obstetrics > Pregnancy > WQ 200 General works WS Pediatrics > Child Care. Nutrition. Physical Examination > WS 125 Breast feeding WS Pediatrics > By Age Groups > WS 420 Newborn infants. Neonatology
Faculty: Department:	Groups (2002 - 2012) > Child & Reproductive Health Group
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-277X.2002.00332.x
Depositing User:	Lynn Roberts-Maloney
Date Deposited:	28 Aug 2013 09:52
Last Modified:	06 Feb 2018 13:04
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/2907

Statistics

View details

Actions (login required)

Edit Item