Childbirth confidence: validating the childbirth self‐efficacy inventory (CBSEI) in an Australian sample

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Abstract
This study examined the reliability and validity of the Childbirth Self‐Efficacy Inventory (CBSEI) (Lowe 1993) in a sample of 100 Australian women. Consistent with US data, the measure was shown to have high internal consistency. Validity of the instrument was determined by applying self‐efficacy theory (Bandura 1982), which predicts that parity should have the largest effect on childbirth self‐efficacy, followed by knowledge, then support and finally anxiety. Results revealed that having a prior good birth experience and knowledge about childbirth had significant effects on childbirth self‐efficacy. A factor analysis was performed to determine whether the original factor structure of this instrument held for Australian women. While outcome expectancies and self‐efficacy expectancies emerged as distinct factors, the results showed that Australian women did not differentiate between active and second‐stage labour. Rather than the two stages of labour emerging as dimensions of the CBSEI, two externally focused coping strategies were revealed.

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