Satisfaction with One's Body and Success in Breastfeeding

The purpose of this research was to determine if there is a difference between satisfaction with body image as measured by the Body Cathexis Scale for women who are successful in breastfeeding as compared with those who are not successful. The study population consisted of 43 women who resided in a three-county area in South Carolina during the months of September, October, and November 1980. Questionnaires were given to participants during their last trimester of pregnancy and again approximately 4 weeks after delivery. Based on the course of breastfeeding, they were divided into Group I (successful) and Group II (unsuccessful). Data were analyzed using the Hotelling's T2 multivariate test with the level of significance set at. 05. No statistical difference was found in the scores for those mothers who were successful and those who were not. Based on these findings, the null hypothesis that there would be no statistically significant difference in body satisfaction of women who are successful in breastfeeding and women who are unsuccessful could not be rejected at the. 05 level of significance. Due to the limitations of the design and the instrument, these findings should be viewed with caution.