Education for adolescent mothers in a hospital setting.

This paper describes an innovative service program designed to help adolescent mothers become more effective parents. Mother-infant pairs are recruited in the postpartum unit of Cincinnati (Ohio) General Hospital, and weekly classes are held in a pediatric clinic waiting room until infants are approximately six months of age. Medical consultation and/or treatment and education for parenthood in the areas of health, nutrition, and infant stimulation are the foci of the program. The interest and participation of the mothers, the opinion of professionals, tests of maternal knowledge, and measurements of maternal-infant interaction attest to the value and success of this program.