Respectful Maternity Care During Childbirth Scale: Development Process, Validity, and Reliability

Background and Purpose: Respectful maternity care is a fundamental human right and a key element of quality childbirth care, as it ensures dignity, autonomy, and freedom from harm for women and newborns. This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable scale to measure women's perceptions of respectful maternity care during vaginal delivery. Methods: Using sequential exploratory mixed-methods design, purposive sampling was applied to recruit 437 postpartum women from two university hospitals and one private hospital. Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed a three-factor structure. Goodness-of-fit indices (χ²/df, Tucker-Lewis index, standardized root mean square residual, root mean square error of approximation) met acceptable criteria, and Cronbach's alpha ranged from .785 to .954. Conclusions: The Respectful Maternity Care During Childbirth Scale provides a culturally specific tool to evaluate care practices, guide midwifery training, and inform maternal health policies, thereby supporting improvements in care quality and outcomes.