Psychological Intervention For Improving Prenatal Attachment Of Pregnant Women With A History Of Previous Miscarriage

Abstract

Given that pregnant women who went through the miscarriage experience during one or moreprevious pregnancies have difficulties in forming emotional attachments to the fetus during the current pregnancy, development of psychological interventions for improving their maternal-fetal attachment is needed. ​The aim of this study is to present a psychological intervention centered on the Unifying-Experiential Psychotherapy for improving the prenatal attachment in pregnant women with a history of miscarriage and to investigate its effectiveness. Hence, 32 pregnant women at 10-30 weeks of gestation, who reported miscarriage in previous pregnancies, were divided in two groups: experimental and control group. All participants had completed Romanian version of Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale MFAS) (Cranley, 1981)in the pre-experiment and post-experiment stages. The experimental group members participated in a psychological intervention program, while the control group did not undergo any psychological intervention. The results obtained highlight significant differences in MFAS overall scores, Roletaking and Attributing Characteristics and Intentions to the Fetus subscales scores. Our findings indicate that psychological intervention for pregnant women with a history of miscarriage could be an important factor in improving their maternal-fetal attachment. Even if is is known that MFA increases during pregnancy, one-to-one or group therapy sessions support a stronger and healthier attachment between mother and fetus.