Table 1

Parameters of the final and three development versions of the labour satisfaction questionnaires

	WOMBLSQ1			WOMBLSQ2			WOMBLSQ3			WOMBLSQ4
	Pre-test	Post-analysis		Pre-test	Post-analysis		Pre-test	Post-analysis		Pre-tes	Post-analysis
Excluding “a general satisfaction” dimension at all stages.
“Pre-test” refers to the state of the questionnaire as it was sent out to respondents; “post-analysis” refers to the reduced questionnaire after analysis.
Year tested	1995			1996			1997			1998
Respondents	300	120		300	188		500	319		2400	1438
Factors (dimensions)*	11	10		10	11		15	10		10	10
Overall Cronbach alpha*	—	0.626		—	0.779		—	0.860		—	0.892
KMO statistic	—	0.761		—	0.794		—	0.821		—	0.865
Bartlett, p value	—	<0.0001		—	<0.0001		—	<0.0001		—	<0.0001
% variance explained	—	82.9		—	72.7		—	75.9		—	77.4
	No of questions		Alpha	No of questions		Alpha	No of questions		Alpha	No of questions		Alpha
Factors (dimensions)	82	25		39	29		50	32		32	32	0.91
Professional competence	10	5	0.91	5	4	0.88	4	5	0.89	5	5	0.90
Expectations	3	3	0.91	3	4	0.92	4	4	0.90	4	4	0.82
Knowing carers	7	2	0.87	2	2	0.82	2	2	0.83	2	2
Interpersonal skills	10	0
Pain in labour	4	2	0.58	5	2	0.69	3	3	0.80	3	3	0.83
Communications	9	2	0.62	6	3	0.83	3	0
Time	6	1	N/A	3	0
Access	4	0		0	1	N/A	1	0
Organisation of carers	2	0
Information	3	2	0.79	2	1	N/A	4	0
Delivery details/care	17	0
Satisfaction	7	2	0.87	2	2	0.82	2	2	0.72	2	2	0.75
Environment	0	2	0.84	2	2	0.78	2	2	0.85	2	2	0.80
Home assessment	0	2	0.39	6	3	0.79	3	3	0.88	3	3	0.90
Pain after labour	0	2	0.51	3	2	0.64	3	3	0.67	3	3	0.65
Holding baby				0	3	0.84	3	3	0.79	3	3	0.87
Husband support							4	3	0.78	3	3	0.83
Control							4	2	0.55	2	2	0.62
Being left alone							5	0
Postnatal care							3	0