Maternal satisfaction with the breastfeeding experience is an important determinant of breastfeeding success. There is currently no valid tool to measure perceived maternal satisfaction with breastfeeding in the Arab context. This cohort study tested the Maternal Breastfeeding Evaluation Scale (MBFES) on 450 healthy Lebanese mothers for internal consistency reliability and construct validity. Participants were recruited between April 2018 and February 2020. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of the Arabic MBFES (MBFES-A) was 0.87. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that it has three components: Infant Satisfaction/Growth, Maternal Enjoyment/Role Attainment, and Lifestyle/Body Image with reliability coefficients of 0.88, 0.87, and 0.68, respectively. Four items were deleted because of low factor loadings and three items were relocated to the Infant Satisfaction/Growth subscale based on their factor loadings. Participants who were exclusively breastfeeding at one and/or 3 months had higher mean MBFES-A total and Infant Satisfaction/Growth and Maternal Enjoyment/Role Attainment subscale scores than participants who were partially breastfeeding, and significantly higher mean scores than mothers who were not breastfeeding (all p values < 0.001), findings that support the scale’s construct validity. Moreover, scores on the Infant Satisfaction/Growth subscale correlated with exclusive breastfeeding at one (r = 0.37, p < 0.001) and 3 months (r = 0.31, p < 0.001). The MBFES-A score had positive modest correlations with maternal attitude towards breastfeeding (r = 0.30, p < 0.001), exclusive breastfeeding at one (r = 0.27) and at 3 months (r = 0.26, p < 0.001 for both), as well as with the longest previous exclusive breastfeeding (r = 0.27, p < 0.001). The 26-item MBFES-A is a reliable and valid instrument to use in future breastfeeding research in Middle East North Africa countries. There is a need for replication of our findings in other Arab contexts using new constructs to establish stronger construct validity.

中文翻译：

---

在黎巴嫩妇女中验证阿拉伯产妇母乳喂养评估量表 (MBFES-A)

母亲对母乳喂养体验的满意度是母乳喂养成功的重要决定因素。目前没有有效的工具来衡量在阿拉伯语境中母亲对母乳喂养的满意度。该队列研究在 450 名健康的黎巴嫩母亲身上测试了母亲母乳喂养评估量表 (MBFES) 的内部一致性信度和结构效度。参与者于 2018 年 4 月至 2020 年 2 月期间招募。阿拉伯语 MBFES (MBFES-A) 的 Cronbach α 信度系数为 0.87。探索性因素分析显示它包含三个分量：婴儿满意度/成长、母亲享受/角色成就和生活方式/身体形象，信度系数分别为0.88、0.87和0.68。由于因子载荷低，删除了四个项目，根据因子载荷将三个项目重新定位到婴儿满意度/成长分量表。在 1 个月和/或 3 个月时完全母乳喂养的参与者比部分母乳喂养的参与者具有更高的平均 MBFES-A 总分和婴儿满意度/成长和母亲享受/角色成就分量表得分，并且平均得分显着高于非母乳喂养的母亲（所有 p 值 < 0.001），结果支持量表的结构效度。此外，婴儿满意度/成长分量表的分数与第一个月（r = 0.37，p < 0.001）和 3 个月（r = 0.31，p < 0.001）的纯母乳喂养相关。MBFES-A 评分与母亲对母乳喂养的态度呈适度正相关（r = 0.30，p < 0.001），1 个月 (r = 0.27) 和 3 个月时（r = 0.26，p < 0.001）的纯母乳喂养，以及之前最长的纯母乳喂养（r = 0.27，p < 0.001）。26 项 MBFES-A 是一种可靠且有效的工具，可用于中东北非国家未来的母乳喂养研究。需要使用新的结构在其他阿拉伯语境中复制我们的发现，以建立更强的结构效度。