Maternal confidence for labor: development of the Childbirth Self-Efficacy Inventory.

The Childbirth Self-Efficacy Inventory (CBSEI) is a self-report instrument that measures outcome expectancies and self-efficacy expectancies for coping with an approaching childbirth experience. The CBSEI scales have excellent internal consistency reliability (.86 to .96) and factor analysis suggested that each CBSEI scale is unidimensional. Validity of the CBSEI was supported by significant positive correlations with the criterion variables of generalized self-efficacy, self-esteem, and internal health locus of control; and significant negative correlations with external health locus of control and learned helplessness. Validity was also supported by significantly higher self-efficacy scores for multiparous as compared to nulliparous pregnant women.