Relationship between maternal antenatal attachment and traumatic childbirth perception among pregnant women

Abstract

ObjectiveTo examine the relationship between the perception of traumatic birth and maternal attachment in pregnant women.MethodsThis descriptive and correlational study recruited 370 pregnant women who applied for an antenatal visit to outpatient clinics of a state hospital. The data were collected using a Personal Information Form, Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (MAAS), and Traumatic Birth Perception Scale (TBPS). Data were collected using the face‐to‐face method. The study was reported according to the STROBE.ResultsThe mean total score of MAAS was 75.71 ± 7.72 and the mean TBPS score was 73.21 ± 28.34. Normal birth pain was perceived as “severe” by 38.3% of pregnant women and as “very severe” by 46.1%. It was determined that 29.2% of pregnant women had a “high” level of traumatic birth perception and 14.5% had a “very high” level. A negative correlation was found between the mean scores of MAAS and TBPS of pregnant women. The trimester of pregnancy, listening to the birth story, planned pregnancy, and traumatic birth perception, was a significant predictor of maternal antenatal attachment.ConclusionAs the maternal antenatal attachment levels of pregnant women increased, their perceptions of traumatic birth decreased.

Primiparların Travmatik Doğum Algısı ve Normal Doğum İnançlarını Etkileyen Faktörlerin Belirlenmesi

“…In the present study, as the gestational weeks of the pregnant women increased, the traumatic childbirth perception scale's total mean score increased. Şahin (42) similarly reported in her study that the traumatic childbirth perception scale's total mean scores of pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy were higher than other pregnant women. The results of the current study demonstrate parallelism with the literature, and it is possible to say that the advancing gestational week is an important parameter in determining the traumatic childbirth perception.…”