[Maternal behavior toward her newborn infant. Potential modification by peridural analgesia or childbirth...

The effects of sophrology and epidural analgesia on early relationship between the mother and her child were studied on a simple of 190 deliveries. The mothers were observed during and just after delivery. Mothers who had been separated from their child before the end of the observation were excluded from the study. The patients had the choice between epidural analgesia or prenatal care with sophrology. Participation to prenatal courses has statistically a positive effect on the relation between the mother and her child (p less than 0.01). Instead, epidural analgesia and posture have very limited effect on this factor. However, a trend to more interaction is found in multipari and patients who didn't choose epidural analgesia.