Assessment of the effect of pregnant women's virtual delivery room visit on birth adjustment

Objective:Developing a scale to assess women's adaption during childbirth from their perspective and the attending midwife's viewpoint is the primary aim. The study also evaluates the impact of virtual maternity ward visits on primiparous women's childbirth adaption and beliefs related to normal childbirth. Method: In the initial phase at Karabük University Training and Research Hospital, literature review and focus group discussions led to forming item pools for postpartum women ("Childbirth Adaption Self-Assessment Scale-CASAS") and midwives ("Childbirth Adaption Midwife Evaluation Scale-CAMES"). Applied to 300 postpartum women and attending midwives, these scales underwent validity-reliability analyses. The subsequent randomized controlled trial at the hospital's prenatal clinics involved an intervention group (n=40) experiencing virtual maternity ward visits and a control group (n=40) receiving routine care. Data, including CASAS, CAMES, and The Belief Scale for Normal Delivery (BSND) were collected using a questionnaire. Statistical analyses included chi-square, independent-samples t-test, and correlation analyses. Results:CASAS comprised 22 items and two subscales, while CAMES was single-dimensional scale with 17 items. Cronbach's Alpha values were 0.949 for CASAS and 0.937 for CAMES. The intervention group demonstrated significant increase in CASAS and CAMES scores compared to the control group (p<0.05). A positive weak correlation was identified between CASAS and CAMES total scores, as well as between intervention group participants' BSND scores and CASAS total score and midwife-patient relationship subscale score (p<0,05). Conclusion:This study affirms CASAS and CAMES as valid, reliable tools for the Turkish population. Virtual maternity ward visits positively impact primiparous women's childbirth Adaption and beliefs about normal childbirth. Keywords: Childbirth, Childbirth adaptability, scale development, delivery room, virtual delivery room visit, beliefs about normal childbirth, pregnancy assessment, midwife assessment