Development of the revised Japanese Maternal Breastfeeding Evaluation Scale, short version

The Japanese Maternal Breastfeeding Evaluation Scale (JMBFES) was developed in 2013 based on the original Maternal Breastfeeding Evaluation Scale (MBFES). Mothers' abilities to incorporate breastfeeding into their daily life may influence their decision to continue or discontinue to breastfeed, but that version of the JMBFES had no questions to measure this important aspect of breastfeeding. Therefore, we sought to improve the JMBFES by incorporating questions measuring "lifestyle compatibility-incompatibility," and we conducted psychometric testing of the improved version.

In this longitudinal study, the revised JMBFES was developed, and its reliability and validity was tested among 215 Japanese mothers. In the first survey, which was done three months after delivery, infant-feeding status and the prenatal intention regarding breastfeeding were measured. In the second survey, which was done two months later, the JMBFES questions were asked along with questions regarding infant-feeding status. We identified items that could be deleted while maintaining high reliability. Using regression models, we examined associations of JMBFES scores with breastfeeding intention and breastfeeding outcomes.

All three subscales in the revised JMBFES had acceptable reliability (alpha >=0.78). The two "lifestyle compatibility-incompatibility" items (one new item and the one that had been deleted previously) belonged to the "potentially negative aspects" subscale. Scores on that subscale were not associated with breastfeeding intention. However, in both surveys, the mothers who were using formula reported more potential difficulties (p<=0.01).

Results of validation testing and reliability testing indicate that the revised JBFEES can be used to measure breastfeeding satisfaction among Japanese mothers.