The Birth Experiences Questionnaire: A brief measure assessing psychosocial dimensions of childbirth

Childbirth is an important life event that has been understudied by psychologists. Parents may find birth to be stressful, painful, and frightening, or feel supported and calm. Birth experiences can be shaped both by preexisting psychological vulnerabilities and by medical events that occur during childbirth. The birth experience may influence both parent and child well-being, helping to shape the health of the new family. This paper introduces the Birth Experiences Questionnaire (BEQ), a brief 10-item measure designed to assess stress, fear, and partner support during birth. We administered the BEQ to 51 couples (102 parents) within 1-2 days of their child's birth. Categorical principal component analysis was used to test reliability and factor structure. The BEQ showed good reliability (Cronbach's alpha = .81 for mothers, 0.80 for fathers) and internal consistency, suggesting it is acceptable for use as a unifactorial measure. The most variability was explained by a 3-factor solution, with the 3 factors reflecting Stress, Support, and Fear for mothers and Stress, Support, and Violation of Expectations for fathers. Prenatally assessed stress, depression, pregnancy-specific anxiety, and social support were all predictive of parents' BEQ scores. BEQ scores were also associated with infant Apgar scores and with couples' negative emotion word usage during an open-ended birth narrative. The BEQ differentiated between parents who had more medically complex births (e.g., labor induction, complications, and C-section delivery) versus less complex births. In conclusion, the BEQ can be administered shortly after birth to both parents, and may capture important dimensions of the perinatal experience. (PsycINFO Database Record