| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A father’s experience of the birth of his first child is important not only for his birth-giving partner but also for the father himself, his relationship with the mother and the newborn. No validated questionnaire assessing first-time fathers' experiences during childbirth is currently available. Hence, the aim of this study was to develop and validate an instrument to assess first-time fathers’ experiences of childbirth.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>Domains and items were initially derived from interviews with first-time fathers, and supplemented by a literature search and a focus group interview with midwives. The comprehensibility, comprehension and relevance of the items were evaluated by four paternity research experts and a preliminary questionnaire was pilot tested in eight first-time fathers. A revised questionnaire was completed by 200 first-time fathers (response rate = 81%) Exploratory factor analysis using principal component analysis with varimax rotation was performed and multitrait scaling analysis was used to test scaling assumptions. External validity was assessed by means of known-groups analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Factor analysis yielded four factors comprising 22 items and accounting 48% of the variance. The domains found were <it>Worry, Information, Emotional support and Acceptance.</it> Multitrait analysis confirmed the convergent and discriminant validity of the domains; however, Cronbach’s alpha did not meet conventional reliability standards in two domains. The questionnaire was sensitive to differences between groups of fathers hypothesized to differ on important socio demographic or clinical variables.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The questionnaire adequately measures important dimensions of first-time fathers’ childbirth experience and may be used to assess aspects of fathers’ experiences during childbirth. To obtain the FTFQ and permission for its use, please contact the corresponding author.</p>
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