Maternal bond and mother–child interaction in severe postpartum psychiatric disorders: Is there a link?

Abstract

Mothers in the puerperium are vulnerable to a wide spectrum of postpartum psychiatric disorders. One of the central psychological processes of the puerperium is the development of an emotional relationship with the baby. The bond to the infant as well as the interaction with the baby are two aspects of the mother-infant relationship that can be disturbed by mothers with postpartum psychiatric disorders. Dysfunctional maternal cognitions may also influence the development of an emotional bonding and the establishment of a positive interaction with the child. The aim of this study is to investigate differences in the self-perceived experience of bonding and the observed mother-child interaction of severely ill postpartum depressive and psychotic mothers. In addition the association between subjective experience of bonding and objective measurement of mother-child interaction will be described. Results show that depressive mothers perceived their bonding to the baby more negatively than psychotic mothers. No differences could be found in the objective interactional behaviour of the mothers in both groups, with the exception that the infants of psychotic mothers showed more eye contact avoidance towards their mothers. The subjective experience of motherhood clearly influences the maternal interactional behaviour with depressive mothers as well as with psychotic mothers.

Impact of postnatal maternal depressive symptoms and infant’s sex on mother-infant interaction among Bangladeshi women

“…They also found that depressed women reported more negative evaluations of themselves as parents than did non-depressed women, even if no difference was found in observed maternal interactive behavior. Similarly, Hornstein et al [30] found Table 2. Comparisons between mothers with and without depressive symptoms and sex of infant according to parental bonding (N = 100) (Mean, SD).…”

Avaliação da ligação parental ao bebé após o nascimento: Análise fatorial confirmatória da versão portuguesa do Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ)

“…Ressalvamos, como notam Brockington et al (2001), que este deve ser apenas um de vários instrumentos a utilizar na avaliação da ligação mãe/pai-bebé, que beneficia particularmente da adoção de metodologias observacionais. A este respeito, importa referir que os resultados do PBQ se têm revelado consistentes com os dados da observação clínica (Hornstein, Trautmann-Villalba, Rave, Wortmann-Fleischer, & Schwarz, 2006). Klier (2006) sugere ainda que, em contexto clínico, o PBQ seja utilizado como medida de avaliação da evolução dos utentes ao longo do processo terapêutico.…”

Maternal mental health: Making a difference

“…There is a body of feminist literature which argues that postpartum distress is a natural reaction to the change and loss which follows childbirth (Littlewood & McHugh, 1997;Nicholson, 1999;Oakley, 1980). The link between postpartum mental illness and an increased chance of attachment difficulties has been documented (Gerhardt, 2004;Hannah, 2005;Hornstein, Trautmann-Villalba, Hohm, Rave, Wortmann-Fleischer & Schwarz, 2006;Milgrom, Martin & Negri, 2003;Parsons, 2009). If a mother experiences postpartum distress it is likely to impinge upon, and interfere with, her ability to bond with her baby.…”