Development of the Woman-Centred Care Scale- Midwife Self Report (WCCS-MSR)

Abstract

Background Woman-centred care is recognised as a fundamental construct of midwifery practice yet to date, there has been no validated tool available to measure it. This study aims to develop and test a self-report tool to measure woman-centred care in midwives. Methods A staged approach was used for tool development including deductive methods to generate items, testing content validity with a group of experts, and psychometrically testing the instrument with a sample drawn from the target audience. The draft 58 item tool was distributed in an online survey using professional networks in Australia and New Zealand. Testing included item analysis, principal components analysis with direct oblimin rotation and subscale analysis, and internal consistency reliability. Results In total, 319 surveys were returned. Analysis revealed five factors explaining 47.6% of variance. Items were reduced to 40. Internal consistency (.92) was high but varied across factors. Factors reflected the extent to which a midwife meets the woman’s unique needs; balances the woman’s needs within the context of the maternity service; ensures midwifery philosophy underpins practice; uses evidence to inform collaborative practice; and works in partnership with the woman. Conclusion The Woman-Centred Care Scale-Midwife Self Report is the first step in developing a valid and reliable tool to enable midwives to self-assess their woman-centredness. Further research in alternate populations and refinement is warranted.

Midwives providing woman-centred care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia: A national qualitative study

“…A qualitative interpretive descriptive study [21] was conducted to describe how midwives provided woman-centred care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Guided by this approach, we (midwives) based and adapted our guiding questions for the in-depth interviews on the development of the Woman-Centred Care Scale -Midwife Self Report (WCCS-MSR) [8] (see Box 1).…”

“…The provision of woman-centred care is embedded in the National Midwife Standards for Practice [3] and is the foundational construct of the most recent strategic framework for Australian maternity services [4]. Recent primary research and reviews have contributed to the understanding of the features that exemplify woman-centred care which include: adaptability to provide individualised care, facilitation of informed decision making, advanced communication skills encompassing listening and reflection, supportive presence including touch and modification of the environment to suit the woman, authentic relationships and respect, freedom for midwives to make choices, and self-determination, and evidence-based care [5][6][7][8]. The strong emphasis on sophisticated and nuanced communication skills and physical proximity are founded in the provision of relational care that is centred on the woman and is inclusive of her partner and support people [5].…”

Work Stressors and Intention to Leave the Current Workplace and Profession: The Mediating Role of Negative Affect at Work

“…Moreover, the low turnover intention can be determined by the midwives’ conviction of the mission to help others. Woman-centred care is the defining feature of midwifery [ 59 ]. Unlike in previous studies, age, job tenure [ 11 ], education level [ 60 ], and marital status [ 61 ] were not significantly associated with the intention to leave a job or occupation.…”

Evaluation of woman‐centred care status by Iranian midwives and providing strategies to improve women‐centred care: A sequential explanatory mixed method study protocol

“…The minimum score in this questionnaire is 40 and the maximum score is 280. Higher scores indicate a higher level of WCC (Davis et al, 2021).…”