Maternal prenatal attachment in normal and high-risk pregnancies

Area of Science:

• Maternal-Fetal Medicine
• Psychology of Pregnancy
• Prenatal Health

Background:

• Maternal-fetal attachment is crucial for healthy pregnancy outcomes.
• Understanding factors influencing this bond is essential for maternal and infant well-being.
• High-risk pregnancies may present unique challenges to maternal bonding.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare maternal-fetal attachment in normal versus high-risk pregnancies.
• To identify demographic and pregnancy-related variables associated with maternal attachment.
• To advance knowledge on prenatal attachment dynamics.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Cranley's prenatal attachment tool for quantitative assessment.
• Administered questionnaires to gather demographic and pregnancy-specific data.
• Employed statistical analyses, including pooled t-tests, to compare groups.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant differences in prenatal attachment scores were observed between normal and high-risk pregnancy groups.
• No significant correlations were found between attachment scores and factors like maternal age, education, or planned pregnancy status.
• Sonogram use and infant's birth order did not correlate with prenatal attachment levels.

Conclusions:

• Pregnancy risk status does not appear to significantly impact maternal-fetal attachment levels in the third trimester.
• Demographic and situational factors examined did not emerge as significant correlates of prenatal attachment.
• Further research may explore other psychosocial factors influencing maternal-fetal bonding.