Midwifery scale to support shared decision-making for unplanned pregnancies: A cross-sectional study

Midwives significantly support women with unplanned pregnancies-promoting a shared perspective on the decision-making process. This study aimed to develop a scale to support midwives to self-assess their practice of this vital role. Following the derivation of scale items and pilot testing, the final version of the scale was administered to 531 midwives to establish internal consistency and construct criterion-related validity. Through exploratory factor analysis, 35 items with a five-factor structure were retained to form the midwifery practice self-assessment scale to promote shared decision-making in women with unplanned pregnancies. These factors illustrate midwives' general aptitude and competencies in understanding environmental factors, collaborating with significant others and the interprofessional group, forming rapport and problem sharing, focusing on consultation content, and promoting autonomous decision-making. There were high and low scores on the scales after attendance of the workshops to support the decision-making of women with unplanned pregnancies. The reliability analysis showed acceptable Cronbach's alpha values for the five factors, from 0.85 to 0.87. The scale was demonstrated to be a reliable and valid measure that would help improve the quality of midwives' practice.