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.

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 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.