The Development of the Postpartum Breastfeeding Comfort Scale and the Assessment of Its Psychometric Properties

The objective of the present research is to develop the "Postpartum Breastfeeding Comfort Scale" and evaluate its psychometric properties.

It is thought that to increase breastfeeding success and ensure the continuity of effective breastfeeding, mothers' breastfeeding problems should be assessed holistically, physical, psychospiritual, sociocultural, and environmental factors that may cause deterioration in comfort should be determined, and a comfort-oriented nursing support can be provided accordingly.

The present research was conducted using a methodological cross-sectional design. Reporting was guided by the STROBE checklist: Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology statement. The "Postpartum Breastfeeding Comfort Scale" was developed in 4 steps: (1) creating an item pool; (2) testing the scale's content validity, criterion-related validity, and reliability; (3) performing exploratory factor analysis (EFA); and (4) performing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

The content validity index was satisfactory. Three factors were included, and 58.38% of the total variance in the scale was explained by the 15 items. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the 3-factor structure. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was found to be 0.80 for the entire scale. Test-retest reliability was 0.95.

The Postpartum Breastfeeding Comfort Scale has good test-retest reliability, internal consistency reliability, content validity, construct validity, and criterion-related validity. We predict that the Postpartum Breastfeeding Comfort Scale will be a useful tool for assessing mothers' breastfeeding comfort by nurses.