Despite the benefits of breastfeeding, breastfeeding initiation and duration rates among adolescent mothers continue to fall short of the national recommended Healthy People 2010 goals. An interdisciplinary review of the literature was performed using CINAHL, MED LINE, and Academic Search Premier. The purpose of this thesis is to highlight the findings of an integrated literature review to describe how support and educational interventions implemented by nurses during the prenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal period may increase the incidence of breastfeeding among this vulnerable population. There is a dearth of research related to adolescent breastfeeding. The most common design was noted to be descriptive (N=9) with qualitative and some quantitative components. Studies evaluated several variables: attitudes of infant feeding practices among adolescent mothers; the various health benefits of breastfeeding; breastfeeding statistics; and the impact that professional support, interventions, and education had on an adolescent's perception of breastfeeding. Findings from the review suggested that • breastfeeding support and education are essential in promoting, encouraging, and targeting teenage childbearing women. Early identification of barriers to breastfeeding and cost-effective strategies to promote breastfeeding among adolescent women may even decrease common breastfeeding problems that lead to early weaning among this population. Until the American culture fully embraces the value of breastfeeding, its value will be diminished with no improvement in media representation and workplace support.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:honorstheses1990-2015-1986 |
| Date | 01 January 2010 |
| Creators | Collier, Angela |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | HIM 1990-2015 |
Page generated in 0.0015 seconds