Reliability and Validity Assessment of the Turkish Version of the Emotional Availability and Responsiveness in Intrapartum Care Scale (EAR-IC)

BACKGROUND

Emotional availability and responsiveness in intrapartum care increase women's birth satisfaction, comfort, and quality of nursing/midwifery care. In Turkey, there is no instrument for measuring emotional availability and responsiveness in intrapartum care.

AIM

An established translation, reliability, and validation approach was used to obtain the Turkish form of the A-EAR-IC scale.

METHODS

A descriptive cross-sectional study was used. This study was conducted in Istanbul, Turkey. The study sample consisted of 132 Turkish midwives working in the birth room. The construct validity of the scale was tested using confirmatory factor analysis, whereas the concurrent scale validity was tested using the Emotional Labor Behavior Scale. Internal consistency analysis was performed to test the reliability of the scale.

RESULTS

The results of the EAR-IC measure showed that it fit the one-factor model. The goodness-of-fit indices of the one-factor model containing eight items were acceptable. The instrument showed satisfactory content validity (I-CVI =0.80-1.00, S-CVI =0.88). According to CFA, the structure with one factor showed acceptable model fit (χ2/df: 1.74, CFI: 0.96, IFI: 0.96, RMSEA: 0.07, and SRMR: 0.02). Concurrent validity of the instrument was assessed with the "in-depth behavior" subscale of the Emotional Labor Behavior Scale for Nursing. Spearman's correlations revealed that the EAR-IC was moderately positively correlated with the in-depth behavior concern subscale of the ELBS (rho =0.62, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The Turkish version of the EAR-IC is a suitable, effective, and reliable instrument for measuring the emotional aspects of intrapartum caregiving midwives.

The midwife's support during transition to motherhood: A modified Delphi study among care providers and childbearing women

OBJECTIVE

To reach consensus between care providers and childbearing women about the midwife's relevant and appropriate domains and elements to support transition to motherhood.

METHODS

A modified web-based Delphi study was conducted in Flanders (Belgium). After performing a systematic literature review, searching the grey literature and an online poll, a set of 79 items was generated. In two rounds, the items were presented to an expert panel of (1) care providers from various disciplines providing services to childbearing women and (2) to pregnant women and postpartum women up to 1-year postpartum. Consensus was defined when 70% or more of the experts scored ≥6, 5% or less scored ≤3, and a standard deviation of ≤1.1.

FINDINGS

In the first Delphi round, 91 experts reached consensus on 24 items. Seventeen round one items that met one or two consensus objectives were included in round two and were scored by 64 panel experts, reaching consensus on three additional items. The final 27 items covered seven domains: attributes, liaison, management of care from a woman-centred perspective, management of care from the midwife's focus, informational support, relational support, and the midwife's competencies.

CONCLUSION

The shared understanding between childbearing women and care providers shows that the midwife's transitional support is multifaceted. Our findings offer midwives a standard of care, criteria, guidance, and advice on how they can support childbearing women during transition to motherhood, beyond the existing recommendations and current provision of transitional care.

Assessing emotional aspects of midwives' intrapartum care: Development of the emotional availability and responsiveness in intrapartum care scale

BACKGROUND/PROBLEM

Emotional care underpins women's positive experiences during labour andbirth but is under-researched. Applying an attachment theory approach may inform the measurement of emotional aspects of maternity care.

OBJECTIVE

To develop and validate a self - report measure for midwives to assess their emotionally attuned intrapartum care.

METHODS

A staged approach to tool development was followed. Item generation was informed by a critical review of the literature and expert review. Following a pilot test, the draft scale was psychometrically assessed. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation was used to establish construct validity. Cronbach's alpha determined internal reliability. Concurrent validity was tested with the 'empathic concern' and the 'personal distress' subscales on the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. The study was conducted with midwives (n = 705) who are members of the Australian College of Midwives.

FINDINGS

The Cronbach's alpha for the scale was 0.88. Principal component analysis revealed a one- factor solution. Significant but low correlations with Interpersonal Reactivity Index subscales of 'empathic concern' (rho = .256, p <.001) and 'personal distress' (rho = -.249, p<.001) confirmed concurrent validity.

CONCLUSION

The Emotional Availability and Responsiveness in Intrapartum Care Scale appears to be a valid and reliable measure of emotional aspects of midwives' caregiving. An Attachment Theory approach validates women's perspectives and elucidates our understanding of the importance of emotional labour support.