Violence during pregnancy and its effects on mother–baby relationship during pregnancy

Abstract

Background: Human beings have an innate need to form close emotional bonds with significant others. Objective: The purpose of this research was to study the effect of domestic violence during pregnancy in the mother–infant relationship. Method: 204 pregnant outpatients (of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of the Hospital Pedro Hispano, Portugal) with a mean age of 29 and in their last 3 months of pregnancy were the participants of this study. To assess the violence level during pregnancy, we used the Conflict Tactic Scale 2. The mother–baby relationship was determined using the Maternal Foetal Attachment Scale and the Maternal Adjustment and Maternal Attitudes questionnaire. Results: In our work, we encountered 107 pregnant victims (52.4% of all outpatients) of domestic violence. The results showed that victims of domestic violence had a poor relationship with the foetus (M = 97.4, SD = 8.1), but not to the point of statistical significance. In these same patients, we also detected minor adjustments and attitude shifts towards pregnancy (M = 117, SD = 14.2) and this result was statistically significant when compared with women who did not experience domestic violence. Conclusion: Our results suggest that women who are victims of domestic violence are more likely to have a lower attachment with the foetus when compared with women who do not suffer domestic violence. Additionally, the victims showed more negative attitudes towards pregnancy and the foetus when compared to non-abused women.