Validation of the Birth Beliefs Scale for maternity care professionals in The Netherlands

Objectives: To validate the Birth Beliefs Scale (BBS) for maternity care professionals by testing: (1) content validity; (2) internal reliability; (3) known-group discriminant validity; and examine potential relationships between regions and birth beliefs. Methods: First, content validity was tested. Before distribution of the questionnaire among maternity care professionals of six maternity care networks (MCNs), adjustments in the statements were made whenever content validity was too low. Data were collected from November 2022 to March 2023. Statistical analysis was performed using Cronbach's alpha, ANOVA and regression analysis. Results: Based on the content validity-test, item 6 of the questionnaire was adjusted before distribution. In total, 199 maternity care professionals completed the questionnaire. A good internal reliability of the BBS was found. There was a significant difference between the different disciplines for the BBS-Med subscale (p < .001), and the BBS-Nat subscale (p < .001). For the BBS-Nat subscale, the factors work experience and MCN were significant in the regression analysis, with interaction on the association between BBS-Nat and discipline. Conclusions: The BBS is a valid instrument to measure birth beliefs among maternity care professionals. The BBS can help to create awareness within professionals of their beliefs and may help to explain practice variation in childbirth.