Maternal/paternal antenatal attachment and fourth-dimensional ultrasound technique: a preliminary report

The purpose of the present research was to investigate the role of the fourth dimensional (4D) ultrasound scanning on the antenatal attachment development, in pregnant women (19-23 weeks of gestation) and their partners. A total of 44 couples were asked to complete questionnaires about maternal and paternal antenatal attachment, before the two-dimensional (2D; control group) and 4D (experimental group) ultrasound scanning and 2 weeks later. In the groups of women, our findings underline the progressive increase in antenatal attachment throughout gestation: the mean level of antenatal attachment was significantly different between the first and the second assessment. No significant differences are shown between 2D and 4D ultrasound scanning groups. We do not eliminate the possibility that ultrasound scanning practice would be a helpful and crucial means of investigation for a complete explanation of prenatal attachment (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978; Fivaz-Depeursinge & Corboz-Warney, 2000) and parental mental representations (Stern, 1987, 1997).