“She deserves the best. So how can I feed her the best?” Complementary food introduction practices among young mothers with a history of child maltreatment

Purpose

To explore the practices, experiences, and needs of young mothers with a history of maltreatment who are introducing their children to complementary foods.

Design and methods

In-depth interviews (n = 9) were conducted with young mothers (19–23 yrs) who had childhood histories of abuse and neglect (maltreatment). Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a five-step thematic analysis approach.

Results

Thematic analysis resulted in three themes: (1) Practices and sources of information, (2) Providing the best, and (3) Feeding challenges. Participants' primary sources of nutrition information were family or foster parents and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) educators. Participants expressed wanting to give their children healthy food and to change the cycle by not repeating some of their own childhood food experiences. Finally, participants sometimes struggled with food affordability.

Conclusions

The study highlights the need for additional support for young maltreated mothers, including access to healthy foods and education about infant feeding.

Practice implications

Young maltreated mothers are in need of trauma-informed and strengths-based complementary feeding information and support with basic needs. Universal trauma-informed care has the potential to prevent re-traumatization and improve patient care and nutrition education.