Development of the Childbirth Fear Scale

Objective: This study was conducted to develop a scale for determining the childbirth fear of women of childbearing age. Methods: The sample consisted of 680 women of childbearing age admitted to the outpatient clinics of the hospital between February and May 2019. Validity and reliability analyses such as the content validity, the construct validity, the internal consistency analysis, and the test–retest analysis were made for these items.

Results: The Content Validity Index value of the scale was found to be 0.84 for 34 items. The fact that the Content Validity Index value obtained was higher than the content validity ratio value indicated that the content validity of the draft scale was statistically significant. As a result of the exploratory factor analysis, it was determined that the scale consisted of 20 items and 3 factors. These factors were named “Fear of Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Maternal Role” (factor 1), “Fear of Inability to Meet Physical and Social Needs” (factor 2), and “Fear of Pregnancy and Childbirth problems” (factor 3). Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the draft Childbirth Fear Scale was found to be 0.86 for the overall scale, 0.88 for factor 1, 0.76 for factor 2, and 0.75 for factor 3.

Conclusion: It was determined that the Childbirth Fear Scale was a valid and reliable measurement tool for determining women's fears related to childbearing.

Cite this article as: Nuraliyeva Z, Kaya N. Development of the childbirth fear scale. Arch Health Sci Res. 2022;9(3):161-168.