Mother‐to‐infant and father‐to‐infant initial emotional involvement

Abstract

While infant attachment has been largely studied, parental attachment is still relatively unknown, especially when referred to fathers. However, it is mainly recognised that parents' emotional involvement with the newborn contributes to the quality of the interaction and the care they provide. The aim of this study was to study mother-to-infant and father-to-infant initial emotional involvement; namely, differences between mothers and fathers and changes in mother's emotions toward the neonate within the first days after delivery. The Bonding Scale, an extended Portuguese version of the 'New Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale', was administered during the first two days after childbirth to a sample of 315 mothers and 141 fathers (n = 456), at the Júlio Dinis Maternity Hospital (Portugal). Most mothers and fathers show positive emotions and only a few of them showed negative emotions toward the infant. Maternal and paternal emotional involvement toward the newborn tend to be similar; nevertheless, fathers show less fear and better emotional involvement with the neonate, while mothers are sadder and show more emotions not related to bonding. During the first days following delivery, emotions not related to bonding, such as fear, seem to decrease in mothers.

State of the science of maternal–infant bonding: A principle-based concept analysis

“…Many studies examined bonding in the first year postpartum (Else-Quest et al, 2003; Taylor et al, 2005; Reck et al, 2006; Feldman and Eidelman, 2007; Cevasco, 2008; van Bussel et al, 2010; Edhborg et al, 2011; Gunning et al, 2011), although a few extended the definition to include childhood years (Broedsgaard and Wagner, 2005; Madrid, 2005; Klier, 2006; Madrid et al, 2006; Moehler et al, 2006; Matthey and Speyer, 2008; Garcia et al, 2010; Reay et al, 2011), and two included measures of bonding in the antenatal period (Chambers, 2009; Figueiredo and Costa, 2009). Several authors also discussed maternal-infant bonding only in terms of the first week postpartum (Sharan et al, 2001; Cernadas et al, 2003; Karacam and Eroglu, 2003; Sevil and Coban, 2005; Figueiredo et al., 2007; Wittkowski et al, 2007; Figueiredo et al, 2009; Weisman et al, 2010; Bienfait et al, 2011). Karacam and Eroglu (2003) and Parva et al, (2010) purport that that immediate physical contact after birth was essential to promotion of maternal-infant bonding, but neither provided empirical evidence to support this idea.…”

“…For the concept of maternal-infant bonding, inconsistencies in linguistic use were frequent, as the term maternal-infant bonding was often used interchangeably with the terms maternal-infant attachment or maternal attachment (Sharan et al, 2001; Crouch, 2002; Cernadas et al, 2003; Madrid, 2005; Klier, 2006; Figueiredo et al, 2007; Matthey and Speyer, 2008; Chambers, 2009), even by authors who specifically defined the difference (Kennell and McGrath, 2005; Altaweli and Roberts, 2010). For example, Kennell and McGrath (2005) wrote that “by general consensus a bond is the emotional tie from parent to infant, whereas the word attachment refers to the tie in the opposite direction, from infant to parent” (p. 775) and then later stated that certain factors “contribute to the attachment of the mother to the infant” (p. 776).…”

“…Additionally, breastfeeding and rooming-in during the immediate postpartum period promoted bonding (Altaweli and Roberts, 2010; Dearman et al, 2012). Figueiredo et al, (2007) also asserted that maternal-infant bonding is stimulated by infant crying, smiling, and visual following. Maternal emotional components are also thought to be able to promote bonding.…”

Birth-related, psychosocial, and emotional correlates of positive maternal–infant bonding in a cohort of first-time mothers

“…This concurs with Figueiredo and colleagues (2009) who found that mothers of infants with “neonatal problems” had decreased bonding. Furthermore, recent studies have reported that baby characteristics, such as having a difficult temperament, and health or sleep problems, can also make bonding more difficult (Brockington, 2004; Broedsgaard and Wagner, 2005; Figueiredo et al, 2007; Bienfait et al, 2011; Hairston et al, 2011). …”

Father/baby Bonding: Impact of Vulnerability to Stress

“….07.02.24 eISSN: 2357//dx.doi.org/10.15405/epsbs. -1330 Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee 247 triad (Figueiredo, B., Costa, R., Pacheco, A., & Pais, A., 2007;Gomes & Leal, 2007;Piccinini, C., A., Silva, M. R., Gonçalves, T. R., & Lopes, R. S., 2004;Samorinha;Figueirinha & Cruz, 2009). …”