Abstract
Maternal love and caregiving are pillars for optimal child development and may affect infant outcomes from pregnancy onwards. The present study aimed to examine whether maternal trait mindfulness during pregnancy and pre- and postnatal maternal-infant bonding were associated with maternal perceptions of infant temperament and social-emotional development. In total, 408 Dutch women (Mage = 31.33, SD = 3.59) participated in a prospective perinatal cohort study and completed questionnaires on trait mindfulness, prenatal bonding, postnatal bonding, infant temperament, and infant social-emotional development at 20 and 28 weeks of gestation, and 10 weeks, 6 and 12 months postpartum, respectively. Path analyses demonstrated that higher levels of the trait mindfulness facet non-judging (i.e., refraining from judgments about own feelings and thoughts) were associated with more pre- and postnatal maternal bonding and fewer social-emotional problems as perceived by the mother. Adopting an accepting and non-judgmental attitude may promote positive feelings of bonding and benefit the infant in terms of having fewer social-emotional problems in the first year of life. Mindfulness interventions may be offered to pregnant women in order to enhance maternal bonding and improve infant outcomes after birth.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
