OBJECTIVES: to develop an instrument designed to assess pregnant women's expectations regarding labor and birth.
METHODS: a cross-sectional study was conducted, utilizing two focus groups for the questionnaire's construction: one comprising eight obstetrics professionals and another with six pregnant women.
RESULTS: based on the focus group discussions, a preliminary 22-item questionnaire was developed. Its psychometric properties were tested in a pilot sample of 67 pregnant women. The results were descriptively analyzed and submitted to the validation process, where reliability measures and the validity of content, criterion and construction values were evaluated. The final instrument was composed of 10 items. Factorial analysis indicated three dimensions of the instrument: safety (four questions), feelings (four questions) and concerns (three questions). Its reliability was assessed using Cronbach's Alpha and Spearman Brown statistical tests, yielding values of 0.6727 and 0.7658, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: the Questionnaire (QEDB) demonstrated adequate psychometric properties to measure pregnant women's expectations, particularly when examining the responses of women in the third trimester. Due to its ease of administration, the instrument can serve as a valuable tool in clinical obstetrics practice and for future research.

Palavras-chave: Birth expectations, Childbirth, Measurement instruments, Psychometric properties, Questionnaire