Infant Feeding Choice and the Adolescent Mother

A descriptive study of 25 pregnant adolescents was conducted to determine where information about feeding is obtained and when the information has the most impact. Family and social environment was a source of information for all of the subjects; the next most frequently cited source of information on infant feeding was magazines. Only two of the subjects identified clinical nurses as a source of infant feeding information. Data indicate that the majority of the subjects had made their feeding decisions in early pregnancy. Results of this study indicate that nurses need to improve their image as a source of information for the adolescent who is trying to make the important feeding decision.