Table 1.
Partner breastfeeding influence scale subscales
| Breastfeeding savvy | Cronbach's alphas: men = 0.87, women = 0.82 |
|---|---|
| Discuss or negotiate with your partner about how long to continue breastfeeding. | |
| Discuss with your partner ideas for trying to solve breastfeeding problems or make suggestions for creative or different ways to make breastfeeding work better. | |
| Learn more about breastfeeding by reading books or articles on breastfeeding. | |
| Tell your partner your opinion about how long you think that she should breastfeed. | |
| Speak up in support of your partner or defend breastfeeding when someone makes a negative breastfeeding comment. | |
| Help your partner get assistance from others for solving breastfeeding problems or improving breastfeeding. | |
| Remind your partner of the benefits that breastfeeding has for her or for your baby. | |
| Show patience and a willingness to wait for your opportunity to feed the baby. | |
| Support your partner's attendance at a breastfeeding support group. | |
| Helping | Cronbach's alphas: men = 0.79, women = 0.82 |
|---|---|
| Help out with or take care of other childcare tasks with the baby. | |
| Give something up in order to make breastfeeding easier. | |
| Help out with other household tasks and responsibilities to free up your partner's time and energy. | |
| Help out with breastfeeding at night. | |
| Care for your baby during and after breastfeeding is done. | |
| Try to improve your partner's health and nutrition. | |
| Give your partner a break from the baby. | |
| Appreciation | Cronbach's alphas: men = 0.86, women = 0.84 |
|---|---|
| Encourage your partner to do her beast when it comes to breastfeeding and let her know that she is not less of a mother if she feels like quitting. | |
| Praise your partner for breastfeeding and let her know that what she is doing is a beautiful, worthwhile thing. | |
| Let your partner know that breastfeeding is natural and/or give her the message that she is breastfeeding because she wants the best for her baby. | |
| Listen to and encourage your partner when she is feeling frustrated or discouraged about breastfeeding. | |
| Show appreciation that your partner is breastfeeding. | |
| Tell your partner that you value and support her mothering decisions and intuitions around breastfeeding. | |
| Breastfeeding presence | Cronbach's alphas: men = 0.88, women = 0.82 |
|---|---|
| Try to improve the breastfeeding experience by getting equipment or supplies ready for breastfeeding. | |
| Act attentively towards your partner during breastfeeding. | |
| Quietly share time and watch or hold your partner during breastfeeding. | |
| Physically help with breastfeeding related activities. | |
| Help create a quiet, pleasant environment for breastfeeding. | |
| Show pleasure and satisfaction while your partner is breastfeeding. | |
| Responsiveness | Cronbach's alphas: men = 0.77, women = 0.76 |
|---|---|
| Make it easy for your partner to breastfeed while entertaining company or visiting others. | |
| Respond sensitively and positively to sexual issues. | |
| Be patient and understanding of the time it takes to breastfeed and don't get upset if the other housework is not done. | |
| Show your comfort with breastfeeding in public and help her feel comfortable too. | |
| Pay attention to how much and how your partner wants you to participate in breastfeeding. | |
| Omitted items | |
|---|---|
| Notice and show dislike or take offense at formula advertisements or marketing practices. | |
| Encourage your partner to breastfeed as a way to calm the baby. | |
| Discourage or disagree with your partner's desire to stop breastfeeding. | |
| Take care of the older children (if you have older children). |
Items were derived from content analysis of interviews with fathers and mothers of breastfed infants (Rempel & Rempel 2011). Cronbach's alphas are based on the combined data from Studies 1 and 2.