Research in Nursing & Health, 2006, 29, 51–60 Development and Psychometric Testing of the Care in Obstetrics: Measure For Testing Satisfaction (COMFORTS) Scale Patricia A. Janssen, 1,2 * Cindy-Lee Dennis, 3 * Birgit Reime 1,2z 1 Department of Health Care and Epidemiology, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada 2 B.C. Research Institute for Children’s and Women’s Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 3 Canada and Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada Accepted 20 October 2005 Abstract: This paper describes the development and psychometric assess- ment of a scale to measure satisfaction with intrapartum and postpartum care in hospital: The Care in Obstetrics: A Measure For Testing Satisfaction (COMFORTS) scale. A sample of 415 participants completed the 40-item scale. Cronbach’s alpha for the scale was .95. Evaluation of construct validity through principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation yielded six subscales: confidence in newborn care, postpartum nursing care, provision of choice, the physical environment, respect for privacy, and labor/delivery nursing care. The COMFORTS scale was able to discriminate between multiparous versus primiparous women, and between women cared for in single room maternity care versus in separate labor/delivery and postpartum rooms. Pending further validation, the COMFORTS scale has potential to measure women’s satisfaction with childbirth care and contribute to an assessment of the quality of care provided. ß 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Res Nurs Health 29:51–60, 2006 Keywords: childbirth; labor; postpartum; satisfaction; single room maternity care The childbearing experience has changed sig- nificantly over the last decade. The emergence of single room maternity care, birthing centers, and midwife-attended home birth have presented childbearing families with new options for place of birth. Shortened hospital stays have limited opportunities for nurses to teach families about caring for the newborn and new mother. Increased use of technology, including cesarean delivery, labor induction, and epidural analgesia have changed the nature of nursing and medical care. These changes may alter women’s experiences of childbirth care and their degree of satisfaction with it. In an increasingly competitive health care environment, health care providers, and adminis- trators are paying close attention to factors in maternity care that influence women’s satisfac- tion. Our goal in the current study was to develop a tool to measure issues currently relevant to pregnant and postpartum women in relation to Correspondence to Patricia A. Janssen, RN, PhD, UBC Department of Health Care and Epidemiology, 5804 Fairview Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6T-1Z3. *Assistant Professor. z Research Associate. Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/nur.20112 ß 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.