Effects of Stress in Pregnancy on Prenatal Attachment, and Contributing Factors

The mother's having good mental health during pregnancy is important for the mother's and fetus's health. Stress experienced during pregnancy can also affect prenatal attachment. In this study, it was aimed to determine the effect of the stress level of pregnant women on prenatal attachment and the factors affecting prenatal attachment.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in the obstetrics outpatient clinic of a training and research hospital, 276 healthy primiparous pregnant women whose gestational age was ≥20 weeks were included. To collect the data, the Descriptive Characteristics Form, Pregnancy Stress Rating Scale (PSRS), and Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI) were used.

The mean scores the participants obtained from the Pregnancy Stress Rating Scale and Prenatal Attachment Inventory were 40.13±31.22 and 46.87±16.62 respectively. A moderately statistically significant negative correlation was determined between pregnancy stress and prenatal attachment (r=-0.42, p=0.000). In the study, it was observed that pregnancy stress level of the participating pregnant women decreased as the age increased (r=-0.13, p=0.026), but that it increased as their education and income levels increased (χ²=8.150, p=0.043) - (χ²=6.785, p=0.034). The participants' attachment levels were not correlated with variables such as age, education, baby's sex and gestational age, but prenatal attachment levels of the participants who received social support while they did house hold chores were statistically significantly higher (U=7872.500, p=0.025).

It was observed that as the prenatal attachment level of the participating pregnant women decreased, as their stress level increased, that their stress level decreased as their age increased, that that their stress level increased as the education and income levels increased, and that the prenatal attachment of the participants who received social support when they did household chores was higher. It is thought that health personnel can improve prenatal attachment by taking necessary steps to reduce the stress levels of pregnant women in this process.