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Objectives: To determine if an intensive intervention directed to mothers of newborns would increase levels of sun protection practice and lower rates of sunburning for their children; and to examine changes in sun protection practices and burning rates experienced between the first and second summers of life.

Sun protection habits should begin early in life and be taught as part of routine preventive health care. Early teaching of parents aims to introduce an easily achieved means of sun protection with the goal of instilling these practices as habits in the parents and their young children. We developed a maternity nurse-led intervention for 187 mothers at newborn nurseries in Falmouth, Massachusetts, combining educational material and personal discussions. One year after the intervention we successfully contacted 73% of the mothers. Nearly 90% recalled the informational program and equal numbers stated that receiving educational materials in the newborn nursery was timely. Nearly two-thirds of mothers reported that this was the only sun protection information received from a provider in the past year.