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The present article is a review of the literature concerning adolescent pregnancy and its relation to psychosocial variables. A summary of the major findings is presented for each of the following headings: the adolescent's family of origin; peer group; boyfriend or husband; the adolescents' personal characteristics; and knowledge, attitudes and practices concerning sexual relations, use of contraceptives and pregnancy. Considering that the specific socio-cultural characteristics of Mexico most likely modify some of the patterns described in other countries, the relevance of these findings to Mexico should be carefully studied and analyzed in order to provide objective, culturally relevant bases for preventive and educational programs. (Author's).

The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of early contact between mother and her newborn (during the 1st hour after birth) and the establishment and duration of breastfeeding, within the context of a rooming-in service which provides continuous 24 hour contact during postpartum hospitalization. 60 healthy pares were studied, 30 of which were provided with early contact and rooming-in, while the other 30 experienced regular rooming-in. Milk production was measured during the 1st 3 days postpartum. The early contact group had significantly greater milk production on the 1st day than the group with only rooming-in. However, by the 2nd and 3rd days, this difference was no longer present. These results suggest that the continued contact and demand feeding which rooming-in provides compensates for the initial advantage of the mothers early contact group. With respect to duration of lactation, 50% of the mothers were still breastfeeding at 6 months regardless of the group to which they belonged. It is concluded that the early contact has a positive effect on the establishment of milk production in the 1st day. However, it had no additional impact on the duration of breastfeeding given the continued contact of the rooming-in experience. Mothers for this study all lived in the Federal District in Mexico and delivered full-term, healthybabies. They had no significant differences in age, parity, socioeconomic status, education, or prenatal care/instruction. (author's modified)

The variables involved in the duration of breastfeeding were analyzed in a group of 60 mothers in Mexico who were followed from delivery until 6 months postpartum. 2 groups were formed: women without any previous breastfeeding experience (primipara) and women with previous experience (multipara). The analysis was performed by step wise regression, grouping the variables in 2 classification systems. The 1st, which was according to temporal proximity to breastfeeding practice, divided the variables into predisposing prenatal, early, and late neonatal factors. The 2nd, according to the level of organization, used the following categories: social, biological, and behavioral motivation. The results show that both groups of mothers base their breastfeeding on the confidence that they have in their own breastfeeding capacity. For the primiparal, this confidence is expressed by age, the advantages they found in nonhuman milk, their milk production, the difficulty they had in establishing breastfeeding during the 1st days, and their anticipation of future breastfeeding problems. The multiparal base their confidence on their prior experience in addition to the previously mentioned factors. The multivariate regression for the primipara explained 98.41% of the variance. Of the 3 significant variables, early postpartum contact accounted for 74.43%. In the case of multiparal, 66.70% of the variance was explained by variables. Of these, the starting age of supplementation was negatively related and explained 47.14% of the variance.