Search

Critical to maternal outcome and development of a healthy and relationship between mother and baby, is the woman's perception of her birth experience. The Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised (BSS-R) has been demonstrated to be psychometrically robust, easily administered, and scored self-report measure of birth experience. Aim of the study was to translate the UK-BSS-R into Hindi, collect data, and psychometrically validate an Indian (Hindi)-BSS-R.Psychometric assessment of the Indian (Hindi)-BSS-R was undertaken following translation using a cross-sectional design. Evaluation of known-groups validity was undertaken using an embedded between-subjects component. Data were collected from (n = 312) postnatal Hindi speaking women in India. Measurement characteristics were assessed using confirmatory factor analysis, divergent validity and internal consistency analysis.The measurement properties of the Indian (Hindi)-BSS-R were observed to be equivocal, with the established tri-dimensional measurement model not achieving best fit to data. Instead, an alternative two-factor model offered an excellent fit to data. Significant differences were observed between Indian (Hindi)-BSS-R scores and family type and gestation term status, which highlights the relevance of these contextual aspects to the Indian birth experience. Internal consistency was observed to be low on some sub-scales, indicating the potential need for future revision.The Indian (Hindi)-BSS-R is a measure of birth experience, which accepting some measurement caveats, is acceptable for use with Hindi speaking women in India. Further research is required to determine if modification of some of the items is required to improve internal consistency.

The use of ultrasound to determine gestational age is fundamental to the optimum management of pregnancy and is recommended for all women by the World Health Organization. However, this modality remains unavailable to many women in low-income countries where trained practitioners are scarce. Although previous initiatives have demonstrated efficacy in training midwives and technicians to perform antenatal ultrasound, these programs have often been too long and too complex to be realistic within the specific constraints of this context, highlighting the need for a novel and pragmatic approach. We describe the development and piloting of a bespoke course to teach midwives 3 fundamental components of early antenatal ultrasound scanning: (1) to identify the number of fetuses, (2) to confirm fetal viability, and (3) to determine gestational age. Having established that 5 days is insufficient, we propose that the minimum duration required to train ultrasound-naive midwives to competency is 10 days. Our completed program therefore consists of one and one-half days of didactic teaching, followed by 8 and one-half days of supervised hands-on practical training in which trainees are assessed on their skills. This package has subsequently been successfully implemented across 6 sites in Malawi, where 28 midwives have achieved competency. By describing the processes involved in our cross-continental collaboration, we explain how unexpected challenges helped shape and improve our program, demonstrating the value of preimplementation piloting and a pragmatic and adaptive approach.

The Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised is a short but valid and reliable robust measure of different aspects of birth satisfaction. This study aimed to test factor structure, validity and reliability of the Croatian version of the Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised. In the cross-sectional study, a convenient online sample of 552 women completed questionnaires in the first year postpartum. The Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised, subscale Satisfaction with Delivery from the Childbirth Perception Questionnaire, and a set of questions on demographic and obstetric data were administered. The results showed the excellent fit of both the three-factor model (Stress experienced during labour, Women's personal attributes, Quality of care) and two-factor model (with Stress and Women's attributes combined into one factor), with no significant difference between the two models. Furthermore, bi-factor modeling revealed a general factor of childbirth experience, which explains the variance of items from Stress and Women's attributes subscales. The internal consistency was high for the total scale and Quality of care, while acceptable for the other two subscales. Convergent and divergent validity was high. Known-group discriminant validity showed that women who gave birth by unassisted vaginal birth and planned caesarean section reported higher levels of birth satisfaction. In conclusion, both empirical findings and theoretical background suggest a three-factor model as the better solution for the Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised conceptualization. As the Croatian version of the Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised was shown to be valid and reliable, it is recommended for use to measure birth satisfaction both for research and practical purposes.