Development of brest milk perception scale of mothers with preterm baby, validity and reliability study

It is extremely important to determine the factors affecting mother's perceptions in terms of the importance of breast milk, initiation and continuation of lactation, and breastfeeding of preterm infants for mothers who gave birth preterm. This study was carried out in order to develop the "Breast Milk Perception Scale of Mothers with Preterm Babies" and to test its validity and reliability. Methodologically planned research was carried out with 241 mothers who gave preterm birth between 03.01.2020 and 30.11.2021 in Sakarya Education and Research Hospital of T.C Ministry of Health Sakarya Provincial Health Directorate and agreed to participate in the study. The research data were collected with a question form prepared by the researchers and a 5-point Likert type scale named "Breast Milk Perception Scale of Mothers with Preterm Babies" prepared in line with the literature. The data acquired in the research were analyzed using the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) for Windows 25.0 program. The mean age of the participants in the study group was determined as 29.42±6.10. In the framework validity of the scale; Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) value of 0.965 and Barlett's sphericity test were found to be significant. (p<0.01. No items were removed from the scale due to having no item with a factor load below 0,400. It was determined that the scale consisted of 22 items and 2 factors. The fit index values for the confirmatory factor analysis model of the scale were χ2/df=2.374, GFI=0.850, CFI=0.941, RMSEA=0.076, and AGFI 0.914. The Cronbach alpha internal consistency reliability coefficient is 0.970. It indicates that the developed scale is a valid and reliable measurement tool that can be used to measure the breast milk perceptions of mothers who gave birth preterm.