Publicação
Cross-cultural validation and psychometric evaluation of the birth beliefs scale among Portuguese pregnant Women
| dc.contributor.author | Lopes, Marlene | |
| dc.contributor.author | Neves, Teresa | |
| dc.contributor.author | Vieira, Margarida | |
| dc.contributor.author | Cardoso, Alexandrina | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-08-13T15:44:28Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-08-13T15:44:28Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2026-08-01 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Background: Beliefs about childbirth shape women’s expectations, decisions, and experiences. Although several tools assess related constructs such as fear or self-efficacy, few instruments focus specifically on childbirth beliefs. The Birth Beliefs Scale (BBS) addresses this gap by measuring 2 dimensions: beliefs in childbirth as a natural event and as a medical event. Objective: We sought to adapt the BBS to the Portuguese context and evaluate its psychometric properties. Methods: This methodological study involved cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric testing. The adaptation followed internationally recognized guidelines, including translation, synthesis, back-translation, expert review, and pretesting. Psychometric evaluation included exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The sample comprised 241 pregnant women enrolled in childbirth preparation programs in central Portugal. Findings: The original two-factor structure was partially confirmed following the removal of 3 items with low psychometric performance, including 2 related to labor pain. The Portuguese version (BBS-pt) demonstrated acceptable internal consistency for the Natural subscale (α=0.68) and lower consistency for the Medical subscale (α=0.58), suggesting cultural and contextual nuances in how birth beliefs are expressed. Conclusion: The BBS-pt is a promising instrument for assessing birth beliefs among Portuguese women. While further refinement is needed, particularly regarding pain-related items, the scale provides a valuable foundation for both research and clinical practice. It may assist nurse-midwives and other maternity care providers in tailoring antenatal education and intrapartum support to women’s individual belief patterns, thereby contributing to more personalized and womancentered care. | eng |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.1177/01939459261466136 | |
| dc.identifier.other | e827b058-0c29-4c9b-8e67-f556634e107e | |
| dc.identifier.pmid | 42549695 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/59120 | |
| dc.identifier.wos | 001839319400001 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.peerreviewed | yes | |
| dc.publisher | SAGE Publications Inc. | |
| dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | |
| dc.subject | Birth beliefs | eng |
| dc.subject | Childbirth beliefs | eng |
| dc.subject | Cross-cultural adaptation | eng |
| dc.subject | Pregnant women | eng |
| dc.subject | Psychometric validation | eng |
| dc.title | Cross-cultural validation and psychometric evaluation of the birth beliefs scale among Portuguese pregnant Women | |
| dc.type | research article | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| oaire.version | http://purl.org/coar/version/c_ab4af688f83e57aa |
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