The birth beliefs scale – a new measure to assess basic beliefs about birth

Abstract

Introduction: Basic beliefs about birth as a natural and safe or a medical and risky process are central in the decisions on where and how to birth. Despite their importance, they have not been studied separately from other childbirth-related constructs. Our aim was to develop a measure to assess these beliefs.

Method: Pregnant Israeli women (N = 850, gestational week ≥14) were recruited in women’s health centers, in online natural birth forums, and through home midwives. Participants filled in questionnaires including sociodemographic and obstetric background, the Birth Beliefs Scale (BBS), dispositional desire for control (DC) and planned mode of delivery.

Results: Factor analyses revealed that the BBS is composed of two factors: beliefs about birth as a natural process and beliefs about birth as a medical process. Both subscales showed good internal and test–retest reliability. They had good construct validity, predicted birth choices, and were weakly correlated with DC. Women’s medical obstetric history was associated with the BBS, further supporting the validity of the scale.

Discussion: Beliefs about birth may be the building blocks that make up perceptions of birth and drive women’s preferences. The new scale provides an easy way to distinctly assess them so they can be used to further understand planned birth behaviors. Additional studies are needed to comprehend how these beliefs form in different cultural contexts and how they evolve over time.

Keywords:

• Beliefs about birth
• birth choices
• measurement
• mode of delivery
• obstetric technology

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Uzi Dan and Miri Gozlan for their assistance in conducting the study.

Disclosure statement

The study was funded by Israel National Institute for Health Policy Research. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Current knowledge on the subject

• Women often have preferences about how and where to birth but it is still unclear what influences these choices.

• Beliefs about the nature of the birth process are related to choosing vaginal or cesarean delivery.

• There is little research that focuses on these beliefs as a central measurable factor.

What this study adds

• We developed a scale that measures beliefs about birth and assessed its reliability and validity.

• The Birth Beliefs Scale (BBS) is composed of two factors – beliefs about birth as a natural process and beliefs about birth as a medical process.

• The two factors independently predict a wide range of birth choices.