The Educational Needs of Mothers with low SES on Breastfeeding Hello! My name is Diana Anderson and I am a nursing student at the University of North Dakota. I am currently taking a childbearing class and have just finished my clinicals on the OB Unit. I recently joined the listserv and have learned a lot from all the professionals that participate. I want to be the best RN that I can and I am eager to learn from other professionals. One of my main topics of interest is how nurses can best educate their patients. Education plays such a critical role in the relationship between the patient and their health status. The nurse is sometimes the key provider in the education that the patient receives on the their condition. That is why it is so important to understand the best ways to educate each patient individually. To do this the nurse has to be able to assess the learning needs of the patient and their socioeconomic satus. Often times people with low socioeconomic status may have more learning needs due to their inability to acquire community and other social resources (Sword & Watt, 2005). One of the reasons that it is important for nurses to bridge that gap between women with low SES and resources is to help promote breastfeeding education among these women. These women need this information most because they face conditions just like the conditions that have occurred down south from Hurricane Katrina. It is in these conditions that breastfeeding is critical in saving the life of infants (Davanzo, 2004). Davanzo (2004) talks about how disaster situations are a critical time for infants to be breastfed to avoid sickness, but breastfeeding doesn’t occur due to the unmet educational needs of the woman. Some studies suggest that there is a direct correlation between the education and intelligence of the mother and the child’s nutrition that can overcome lower socioeconomic status. One study states that women with a higher educational level are chosing to provide a more nutritional diet to their children, including the choice to breastfeed (Creed- Kanashiro, Cueto, Jacoby, & Wachs, 2005). There is a greater need for education among lower SES women and there are more and more American’s facing poor conditions due to the recent events down south. What advice can be given to future nurses on how to effectively educate these women on breastfeeding? Is there any specific resources that are geared primarily for women in these situations? Thank You, Diana Anderson, SN References Creed-Kanashiro, H., Cueto, S., Jacoby, E., & Wachs, T. (2005). Maternal education and Intelligence Predict Offspring Diet and Nutritional Status. The American Society for Nutritional Sciences, 135, 2179-2186. Davanzo, R. (2004). Newborns in Adverse Conditions: Issues, Challenges, and Interventions. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, 49, 29-35. Sword, W., & Watt, S. (2005). Learning Needs of Postpartum Women: Does Socioeconomic Status Matter? BIRTH, 32(2), 86-92. *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html