Maternal-Infant Bonding and Its Relationships with Maternal Depressive Symptoms, Stress and Anxiety in the Early Postpartum Period in a Polish Sample.

Mariola Bidzan,Karolina Lutkiewicz,Mariusz Cieślak,Łucja Bieleninik

doi:10.3390/ijerph17155427

Abstract

A large body of literature indicates that there is a relationship between maternal psychological well-being and the early maternal–infant bond. However, this relationship is not fully understood, due to the different theoretical frameworks of maternal–infant bonding and different data collections points. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the maternal bond and the maternal psychological state including anxiety, stress, and maternal depressive symptoms. In this cohort study, 150 women who gave birth after 37 weeks of pregnancy completed the following self-reports 1–3 days post-delivery: Socio-demographic questionnaire, Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ), Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS), Postpartum Depression Screening Scale (PDSS), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7), and Parental Stress Scale (PSS). The obtained results showed that the maternal level of stress, anxiety and postnatal depressive symptoms are significantly correlated with the maternal–infant bond in Polish mothers. In addition, regression analysis shows that postpartum depressive symptoms and maternal stress are significantly associated with the maternal–infant bonding process in the early postpartum period. This finding emphasizes the importance of identifying maternal mental state difficulties in the early postpartum period in order to provide interventions to help build healthy maternal–infant bonding.

Highlights

The process of forming a healthy maternal bond with a child is one of the most significant psychological processes for a mother in the postpartum period and the first year of a child’s life [1], as it affects a child’s survival and healthy future development [2,3]
The bonding process has been researched for the last few decades, there is a continuing discussion in terms of defining maternal bonding and the analysis of risk factors for impaired bonding measured in different time points among different groups of parents
The study group consisted of 150 women who gave birth after 37 weeks of gestation

Summary

Introduction

The process of forming a healthy maternal bond with a child is one of the most significant psychological processes for a mother in the postpartum period and the first year of a child’s life [1], as it affects a child’s survival and healthy future development [2,3]. The concept of bonding first appeared in literature in the mid-1970s and shortly after was popularized by Klaus and Kennel’s (1976) research, who examined the importance of early bonding with a newborn child [4]. Positive bonding corresponds with a child’s healthy relationships and interactions with other people and determines the parenting of their own children in the future [5,6]. The bonding process has been researched for the last few decades, there is a continuing discussion in terms of defining maternal bonding and the analysis of risk factors for impaired bonding measured in different time points among different groups of parents. Concept analysis of maternal–infant bonding made by Kinsey and Hupcey (2012) [7], shows that in the majority of scientific studies, Maternal–Infant Bonding (MIB) is defined as a process

Objectives

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion