[Revalidation of a questionnaire assessing women's satisfaction with maternity care in hospital]

Revalidation of a survey instrument assessing women's satisfaction with maternity care in hospital. To determine the suitability of the questionnaire for its use in internal and external quality management.

Postal survey, 3 073 women from 38 hospitals received a questionnaire after discharge. Psychometric evaluation was done via exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis. The questionnaire's ability to differentiate between subgroups and between maternity wards was evaluated.

The mean response rate was 58%. Eleven factors (Cronbach's Alpha between 0.7 and 0.9) were extracted, explaining 55% of the variance. Parity and getting to know the staff beforehand was associated with women's satisfaction especially with issues encompassing interaction with the staff.

Due to its good psychometric properties, the ability to differentiate between hospitals and its practicability the questionnaire is well suited for use in internal and external quality management of maternity wards.