Key issues to address with bottle-feeding.

Proper feeding during a baby's first year of life is crucial for a sound nutritional foundation. Because of this, there are several issues that must be addressed to ensure the child is fed properly. First, bottle-feeding moms should not be made to feel guilty about their feeding decision. It is also important to review feeding practices to avoid overfeeding and encourage positive nurturing techniques. Mothers should learn the key signals to watch for from their baby, such as sleep patterns and bowel movements. Also, it is crucial to teach parents the essential issues related to preparing bottles, such as cleaning the bottles and nipples and properly mixing the formula.

Understanding cultural differences when advising mothers about feeding choices.

Cultural teachings and practices greatly influence a mother's feeding decisions. It is important for all health care professionals to understand the cultures within their community and how various beliefs impact infant nutrition. For example, studies have shown the African American and Hispanic mothers are more likely to gain feeding information from family members. There are significant misconceptions being passed down through the generations which can lead to serious nutritional problems, such as overfeeding and the early introduction of cow's milk and food.

Counseling at-risk mothers.

Special consideration should be given when counseling at-risk mothers. Although local health departments and offices for the Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) are teaching mothers about proper feeding practices, there is a large section of the population that does not qualify for government programs and does not have the financial resources to properly feed their children. Considering this group of parents, and the shrinking number of clinics, it is essential that health care professionals educate mothers in at-risk environments to watch for cues from the infant while determining feeding practices.

Store brand formulas--a new alternative for bottle-feeding moms.

There are more infant formula options on the market today than ever before. Health care professionals must help mothers determine what type of formula to feed their child, such as an iron-fortified, milk-based formula or a soy-based formula. It is also key to realize that the Federal Food and Drug Administration tightly regulates infant formula so they are all nutritionally equivalent. The only significant difference among today's term formula options is price. Most leading retailers around the country carry a store brand of formula that bears the store's name, is made by Wyeth Nutritionals, regulated by the FDA, and available at a significant savings.

Assessing infant health promotion: a cross-cultural comparison.

The purpose of this cross-cultural, correlational study was to evaluate two popular clinical/research assessment tools, the NCAST Teaching Scale and the Home Observation Measurement of the Environment (HOME) Inventory, as measures of infant health promotion behaviors for low-income, foreign-born Hispanic mothers in the United States. Based on the assumption that both measures tap universal attributes of the mother-infant relationship, it was hypothesized that maternal performance for the study group and a comparison group of U.S.-born, low-income mothers would be similar. Comparable performance on the NCAST Teaching Scale included a full range of scores, including the capacity to identify mothers most in need of clinical intervention. Study fundings supported the clinical use of this assessment scale with mothers represented by the study sample. Consistently lower scores by the foreign-born Hispanic mothers on the HOME Inventory led to the conclusion that the instrument may not tap cultural universals in the mother-infant relationship.

Assessing the high-risk pregnant woman at home.

Many women with high-risk pregnancies such as pregnancy-induced hypertension and preterm labor are being managed in their homes. By using tools designed to detect subtle changes in the health status of the woman and her fetus, the home healthcare nurse can have a positive impact on the treatment and outcome of the pregnancy.