Table 1.
Items and factor structure of questionnaire examining reasons for stopping breastfeeding
| Body image | Embarrassed | Physical Difficulty | Pain | Lifestyle | Pressure | Support | Medical | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breastfeeding was ruining my breasts | 0·65 | 0·12 | 0·08 | 0·12 | 0·20 | 0·11 | 0·11 | 0·14 |
| I wasn't losing weight | 0·73 | 0·17 | 0·18 | 0·20 | 0·18 | −0·14 | 0·15 | −0·01 |
| My breasts kept leaking | 0·62 | 0·22 | 0·12 | 0·11 | 0·12 | 0·05 | 0·22 | 0·05 |
| I wanted my body back for me | 0·62 | 0·32 | 0·11 | 0·19 | −0·08 | 0·01 | −0·06 | −0·22 |
| I didn't like feeding in public | 0·16 | 0·84 | 0·20 | 0·18 | 0·10 | −0·07 | −0·04 | 0·05 |
| I didn't like feeding in front of others | 0·19 | 0·85 | 0·29 | 0·16 | 0·01 | 0·05 | 0·03 | 0·06 |
| I was stuck in the house breast feeding | 0·22 | 0·72 | 0·03 | 0·15 | 0·15 | 0·06 | 0·04 | 0·11 |
| I didn't know anyone else who breast fed | 0·04 | 0·56 | 0·32 | 0·22 | 0·11 | 0·22 | 0·29 | 0·12 |
| The baby wouldn't latch on properly | 0·22 | 0·27 | 0·71 | 0·20 | 0·11 | 0·27 | 0·22 | −0·11 |
| The baby was feeding all the time | 0·21 | 0·25 | 0·75 | 0·21 | 0·06 | 0·15 | −0·05 | 0·15 |
| My baby wasn't gaining enough weight | −0·09 | 0·07 | 0·69 | 0·22 | 0·02 | 0·22 | 0·29 | −0·11 |
| I didn't have enough milk | −0·02 | 0·01 | 0·62 | 0·09 | 0·14 | 0·19 | 0·11 | −0·02 |
| Baby didn't want to breastfeed anymore | −0·04 | 0·12 | 0·67 | 0·23 | 0·26 | 0·29 | 0·16 | 0·01 |
| It was too painful | 0·04 | 0·19 | 0·11 | 0·78 | 0·27 | 0·22 | 0·09 | 0·11 |
| My nipples were cracked | 0·01 | 0·08 | 0·21 | 0·62 | 0·19 | 0·34 | 0·22 | 0·03 |
| I got mastitis, thrush or another similar problem | 0·03 | 0·04 | 0·26 | 0·68 | 0·04 | 0·33 | 0·12 | 0·01 |
| It was too difficult | −0·02 | 0·15 | 0·20 | 0·77 | 0·21 | 0·15 | 0·24 | 0·03 |
| I never knew when the baby was going to feed | 0·11 | 0·04 | 0·10 | 0·22 | 0·72 | 0·23 | 0·05 | 0·14 |
| I didn't like being responsible for all the feeds | 0·03 | 0·24 | 0·19 | 0·14 | 0·67 | 0·26 | 0·15 | 0·22 |
| I couldn't keep track of milk intake | 0·30 | 0·23 | 0·12 | 0·13 | 0·70 | 0·20 | 0·13 | 0·21 |
| I couldn't leave the baby | 0·02 | −0·05 | 0·14 | −0·04 | 0·61 | −0·11 | −0·03 | −0·05 |
| I couldn't go out and socialize | 0·12 | 0·16 | 0·24 | 0·06 | 0·68 | 0·18 | 0·21 | 0·06 |
| I wanted a more predictable routine | −0·02 | 0·04 | 0·14 | 0·12 | 0·70 | 0·18 | 0·19 | 0·13 |
| My partner wanted me to stop | 0·15 | 0·35 | 0·10 | 0·22 | 0·10 | 0·79 | 0·41 | 0·03 |
| My mother wanted me to stop | 0·09 | 0·32 | 0·17 | 0·31 | 0·19 | 0·82 | 0·34 | 0·12 |
| Friends wanted me to stop | 0·13 | 0·26 | 0·12 | 0·16 | −0·04 | 0·76 | 0·39 | 0·05 |
| Other people made negative comments | −0·24 | 0·17 | 0·02 | 0·15 | −0·11 | 0·75 | 0·25 | 0·07 |
| Other people felt excluded | 0·14 | 0·20 | 0·26 | 0·10 | 0·03 | 0·62 | 0·35 | 0·03 |
| I couldn't get any help with problems | 0·17 | 0·12 | 0·12 | −0·15 | 0·23 | 0·12 | 0·80 | 0·11 |
| I didn't have enough support | 0·34 | 0·33 | 0·12 | 0·08 | 0·21 | 0·12 | 0·76 | 0·18 |
| I couldn't get any professional advice | 0·28 | 0·12 | 0·24 | 0·23 | 0·21 | 0·19 | 0·60 | 0·32 |
| I was exhausted | 0·30 | 0·18 | 0·42 | 0·23 | 0·05 | −0·13 | 0·58 | 0·22 |
| I wasn't well | 0·38 | 0·32 | 0·36 | 0·05 | 0·12 | 0·12 | 0·12 | 0·54 |
| The baby wasn't well | 0·22 | 0·28 | 0·25 | 0·17 | 0·04 | 0·10 | 0·08 | 0·68 |
| I was taking medication | 0·15 | 0·39 | 0·14 | 0·21 | 0·09 | −0·09 | 0·22 | 0·66 |
| A health professional advised me to stop | 0·12 | 0·18 | 0·11 | 0·12 | 0·22 | 0·02 | 0·14 | 0·78 |
| Percentage of variance explained | 15·28 | 10·66 | 4·79 | 4·74 | 4·16 | 4·02 | 3·42 | 3·20 |
| Cronbach's alpha | 0·79 | 0·76 | 0·70 | 0·69 | 0·63 | 0·78 | 0·72 | 0·62 |
Table 1 shows regression scores for each item and how they load onto each factor produced. Items in bold signify items which group strongly on each factor.