title: Breastfeeding intentions and outcomes of adolescent mothers in the Starting Out program.
abstract: Studies of adolescent mothers have shown that they have a lower rate of breastfeeding than older mothers. This study explores the breastfeeding intentions and outcomes of adolescents attending the Starting Out program of UnitingCare Connections. Starting Out is a community-based program for pregnant and parenting young women up to the age of 25 years. The program offers young women counselling, antenatal support and education, supported accommodation, outreach support, and information. Antenatal support and education are an important part of the service offered to pregnant young women at Starting Out. Of the pregnant young women in the study 97.6% said they wanted to breastfeed, with 82.8% breastfeeding on discharge from hospital. However, the number of young women still breastfeeding at three and six months fell to levels lower than these rates for older women. Furthermore, 48.5% of the young women breastfed for a shorter period than they intended to breastfeed. The factors influencing these results are discussed. Although young women are less likely to breastfeed than older women, this study has shown that the Starting Out program has had positive breastfeeding outcomes for young women who were involved in the antenatal classes.
authors.affiliation: kaye_greenwood@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Kaye
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Greenwood
authors.forename: Patsy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Littlejohn
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors