Development and Psychometric Testing of the Maternal Nipple Shield Satisfaction Scale.

Background and Purpose: Nipple shield use is common among breastfeeding mothers, yet no instrument measures maternal satisfaction. The new Maternal Nipple Shield Satisfaction Scale (MNSSS) was evaluated for reliability and validity. Methods: The MNSSS for was tested in two phases: women (N = 128) using nipple shields in the previous 6 months and the second, women, (N = 57) within the first 3 weeks postpartum. Results: From the original 21-item scale, content validity analysis, Cronbach's alpha, item to total correlation testing, exploratory factor analysis resulted in a one factor scale consisting of nine items with a Cronbach's alpha of.90. Convergent validity testing resulted in a small, but significant negative correlation. Conclusion: The MNSSS may be a useful instrument for examining satisfaction of women using nipple shields for breastfeeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]