The M-PHI and F-PHI are valid, reliable, parent-generated instruments. These unique instruments will be invaluable for practitioners wishing to promote family-centred care and for trialists and other researchers requiring a validated instrument to measure both positive and negative health during the first postnatal year, as to date no such measurement has existed.
Research has highlighted the associations between relationship functioning and depression and/or anxiety symptoms in the perinatal period, and the importance of attachment in the transition to parenthood. Adult attachment can support or undermine the early co-parenting relationship and parent–infant bonding. Among the risk factors for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders are relationship stress, attachment style, and dissatisfaction with support during pregnancy and birth. Creative antenatal strategies that strengthen the bond for couples are a powerful antidote to relationship stress, as are services that target the couple, including early intervention during pregnancy, courses that foster the couple connection, and other methods of prevention and treatment that are couple-based. There is evidence that, particularly during the perinatal period, women prefer psychosocial treatments over antidepressant medications to reduce depression and/or anxiety, due to concerns regarding exposure of the fetus or infant to medications ( Whisman et al, 2011 ).
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