The factors Related to Maternal-Fetal Attachment: Examining the Effect of Mindfulness, Stress and Symptoms during Pregnancy

Abstract

Background:The development of a successful relationship between a mother and her developing fetus to foster maternal behavior attainment. Diverse factors such as psychophysiological elements infl uence the maternal-fetal relationship. Mindfulness, a psychological process, increasingly apples to the research of pregnant women's wellbeing. However, most studies focus solely on physiological outcomes; few consider the maternal-fetal bonding.Purpose: This research aims to investigate whether factors of stress, symptoms during pregnancy and mindfulness systematically related to maternal-fetal attachment.Methods: Data were collected from 339 pregnant women, which were recruited from two hospitals in Taiwan, using the following questionnaires: the mindfulness scale, the symptom scale, the pregnancy stress scale during pregnancy, and the maternal fetal attachment scale. A path analysis approach was used to test the relationship.Results: Pregnancy stress is the most robust factor of maternal-fetal attachment. The mindfulness and stress during pregnancy both have signifi cant direct effects on maternal-fetal attachment, ß = .46, and ß = 22, all p < 0.00, respectively. The mindfulness has a signifi cant inverse, direct effect (ß = -.13, p < 0.05) on stress during pregnancy. But the variable of symptoms during pregnancy is no signifi cant effect on maternal-fetal attachment. The model proposed in this study accounts for 22.5% (R2) variance in the relational model of maternal-fetal attachment. Conclusions:Given that the maternal mindfulness direct and indirect effect through stress variable on mother developing a closer connection with her babies, screenings of the relational elements should be incorporated into prenatal education programs.

Mother-infant bonding and its predictors among pregnant women in Saudi Arabia

“…The author believes that no matter what the age of a pregnant woman, MIB is still present because it is an emotional tie between the mother and her baby. Furthermore, consistent with other studies, the current study revealed that there are no significant statistical differences in the mean level of MIB among gestational ages (Tsao et al, 2019;Zolfaghari et al, 2019). The author believes that as fetal growth occurs, pregnant women can feel the new movements of the baby, which makes the experience more physical for them and may lead them to interact more adequately with the fetus, thus increasing MIB.…”