title: Assessing the perception of the childbirth experience in Italian women: a contribution to the adaptation of the Childbirth Perception Questionnaire.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  childbirth is a crucial experience in women's life as it has a substantial psychological, emotional and physical impact. A childbirth positive experience is important to the woman, infant's health and well-being, and mother-infant relationship. Furthermore, it is useful for the care providers to guarantee the best preparation, health service and support to childbearing women. The Childbirth Perception Questionnaire (CPQ) is a 27-item instrument designed to assess women's perception of their childbirth experience.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  to provide a first attempt to adapt the Childbirth Perception Questionnaire (CPQ) using a sample of Italian women. The psychometric properties of the scale and the quality of women's childbirth experience perception were assessed. Furthermore, the potential relation between the childbirth perception and the pain perception was explored.
  
  
  METHODS
  two separate studies were conducted. In Study 1, the factor structure and the reliability of the Italian translation of CPQ were assessed. Also a quantitative analysis of respondents' mean ratings was conducted. In Study 2 the relation between the CPQ and the Italian Pain Questionnaire (IPQ) was examined.
  
  
  METHODS
  an inpatient gynaecologic-obstetric unit in a university medical centre in Italy.
  
  
  METHODS
  195 women in Study 1 and 92 women in Study 2 completed the questionnaires.
  
  
  METHODS
  in Study 1 the translated form of CPQ was administered in the 24-48 hours post partum. In Study 2, the participants completed the Italian version of the CPQ and the Italian Pain Questionnaire (IPQ) in the same postpartum time frame. Socio-demographic details and information about women's obstetric history were collected in both Study 1 and Study 2.
  
  
  RESULTS
  an exploratory factor analysis revealed a 24-item scale with a three-factor structure. The Italian version of the questionnaire was labelled Childbirth Experience Perception Scale (CEPS) and composed of three subscales: Labour and Delivery Perception, Control Perception and Change Perception. The questionnaire presented satisfactory internal consistency's indexes both in Study 1 (α coefficients range: .66-.83) and in Study 2 (α coefficients range: .70-.86). The analysis of women's mean scores on CEPS revealed a significant effect of age, social economic status, amniocentesis test, type of childbirth, childbirth preference, and disagreement between actual and preferred childbirth (p<.05). A significant correlation between the CEPS and IPQ scales was found (p<.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  the current research evidenced that the Italian first adaptation of the CPQ, the Childbirth Experience Perception Scale, may be a valid and reliable measure of childbirth experience perception for use in different women's health clinical outcome and studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecological Sciences and Human Reproduction, University of Padova, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bertucci
authors.forename: Marilisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boffo
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mannarini
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Serena
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Saccardi
authors.forename: Erich
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cosmi
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Andrisani
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ambrosini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D007743:Labor, Obstetric; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D036801:Parturition / Q000523:psychology*; D010465:Perception; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014177:Translations; D055815:Young Adult