Prenatal attachment and its association with foetal movement during pregnancy - A population based survey

To investigate the association between the magnitude of foetal movements and level of prenatal attachment within a 24h period among women in the third trimester of pregnancy.

a prospective population-based survey.

A county in central Sweden.

Low risk pregnant women from 34 to 42 weeks gestation, N=456, 299 multiparous and 157 primiparous women.

The revised version of the Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI-R) and assessment of the perception of foetal movements per 24h in the current gestational week.

A total of 81 per cent of the eligible women completed the questionnaire. The overall sample of women found that the majority (96%) felt their baby move mostly in the evening. More than half of the respondents (55%) stated that they perceived frequent foetal movement on two occasions during a 24h period, while almost a fifth (18%) never or only once reported frequent foetal movement in a 24h period. Just over a quarter (26%) of respondents perceived frequent movement at least three times during a 24h period. Perceiving frequent foetal movements on three or more occasions during a 24h period, was associated with higher scores of prenatal attachment in all the three subscales.

Perceiving frequent foetal movements at least during three occasions per 24h periods in late pregnancy was associated with prenatal attachment.

encouraging women to focus on foetal movements may positively affect prenatal attachment, especially among multiparous women >35 years.