Adaptation and psychometric validation of the Russian Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised in postpartum women

Birth satisfaction indicates maternity care quality and is shaped by communication, involvement in decisions, continuity, and perceived safety. This study translated and culturally adapted the original Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised (BSS-R) into Russian (RU-BSS-R) and evaluated its psychometric properties in a sample of Russian-speaking postpartum women.

A cross-sectional online survey recruited postpartum Russian-speaking women. After screening, analyses included 223 respondents. Translation used dual forward translation, back-translation, expert adjudication, and cognitive pretesting. Validity was examined with confirmatory factor analysis of established models, correlations with single-item satisfaction, respectful care, and traumatic appraisal, divergent validity with maternal age, internal consistency by alpha and omega, and known-groups comparisons by mode of birth and parity.

Three-factor, two-factor, and bifactor models showed excellent fit; the single-factor model fits poorly. Reliability was acceptable to good: alpha 0.71 (Stress), 0.70 (Attributes), 0.77 (Quality of Care), and 0.84 (total); omega total 0.85. Convergent validity was strong: total score correlated 0.77 with single-item satisfaction, 0.64 with respectful care, and -0.73 with traumatic appraisal. Divergent validity with maternal age was near zero. Known-groups results supported discriminant validity: unassisted vaginal birth exceeded emergency caesarean on Stress, Attributes, and total; multiparous women exceeded primiparous women on Stress and Attributes. Quality of Care was broadly similar across modes; effect sizes were small.

The Russian BSS-R is a reliable, practical measure. The total score supports monitoring, while domain profiles highlight priorities such as preparation for labour, real-time communication, and visible support to strengthen agency and reduce perceived strain.