Contributing to Content Validity of the Infant-Driven Feeding Scales© through Delphi surveys

The Infant-Driven Feeding Scales© (IDFS) assess a preterm infant’s readiness for oral feeding, evaluate the infant’s quality of feeding, provide a guide for intervention, and provide a standardized format for documentation (Ludwig and Waitzman, 2007). Since its inception, the IDFS have evolved over time with changes in language and clarity founded on clinical experience, best-practice information from the literature, and knowledge of existing infant feeding assessments. This paper presents additional evidence to support the content validity of the IDFS by reporting opinions collected from neonatal feeding experts by way of the Delphi Technique. Updates to the IDFS are presented.