Breast-feeding knowledge and attitudes of teenage mothers in Liverpool.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the knowledge and attitudes of teenage mothers towards breast-feeding.


METHODS
A questionnaire of teenage (< 20 years) and non-teenage (> or = 20 years) primigravidae attending the antenatal care services at the Liverpool Women's Hospital, during the period April-May 2000.


RESULTS
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.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Dewan
N
N
Tropical Child Health Group, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5QA, UK.
Wood
L
L
Maxwell
S
S
Cooper
C
C
Brabin
B
B
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000523:psychology*; D004522:Educational Status; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D017533:Marital Status; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000523:psychology*; D012907:Smoking; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires