Table 3 Newborn Feeding Ability with Principle Component Varimax rotation

Variance Explained

Factor 1 Knowledge Skin contact effects

11. A mother is more likely to accept and feel warm toward her baby if skin-to-skin contact happens immediately after birth

15. Separation of a newborn from the mother at birth can cause harmful stress to the baby

10. Uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth is important for newborn breastfeeding performance

16. Birth trauma may interfere with the proper coordination of an infant's natural suckling reflexes

17. Interrupting skin-to-skin contact within 15–20 minutes of birth seriously disturbs the suckling reflexes for correct attachment

12. Hours of continuous skin-to-skin contact can help a newborn baby learn to feed

7. Skin-to-skin contact is important to prevent heat loss in newborn babies

Factor 2 Physiological stability

6. A newborn's heart rate is stabilized by skin-to-skin contact

5. Skin-to-skin contact is important to help stabilize newborn breathing

8. A newborn's blood sugar levels are stabilized by skin-to-skin contact

9. Skin-to-skin contact helps the flow of colostrum after birth

Factor 3 Innate ability

2. Newborns will develop predictable, coordinated feeding behaviors within minutes of birth

3. Newborns can instinctively find the nipple without help and attach correctly to the breast

4. Newborns will be guided to the nipple by their sense of smell

1. A normal full term infant is born with instinctive reflex ability to breastfeed effectively

Factor 4 Work practices

20. Time required for skin-to-skin contact to breastfeed interferes with completion of required documentation

18. There is no time immediately after birth to allow uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact until the first breastfeed

21. Most mothers want to be cleaned up immediately after birth rather than hold their baby

19. Prevention of heat loss by wrapping the baby is of higher priority than skin-to-skin contact to initiate feeding behaviours.

Factor 5 Effective breastfeeding

13. Midwives and mothers know the baby is getting colostrum at the first breastfeed when they hear the baby swallow

14 Midwives and mothers know the baby is getting colostrum at the first breastfeed when they see the baby swallow

Cronbach Alpha