. Nahid Golmakani; . Mahboobeh Gholami; . Fatemeh Shaghaghi; . Hadise Safinejad; . Zahra Kamali; . Zahra Mohebbi-Dehnavi
Volume 10, Issue 10 , October 2020, , Pages 1-6
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Maternal–fetal attachment is a term used to describe the emotional relationship thata pregnant woman has with her developing fetus. Mental care for pregnant women ...
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INTRODUCTION: Maternal–fetal attachment is a term used to describe the emotional relationship thata pregnant woman has with her developing fetus. Mental care for pregnant women (fear of childbirthand a sense of cohesion of pregnant women) is one of the most important aspects of prenatal carethat affects the mother’s attachment to the fetus. If fear and anxiety are relieved, psychological andphysical relaxation will be replaced. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim ofdetermining the relationship between fear of childbirth and the sense of cohesion with the attachmentof pregnant mothers to the fetus.METHODS: The present study is a descriptive study that was performed by multi‑stage samplingmethod on 500 pregnant mothers who referred to health centers in Isfahan in 2017. The studyparticipants completed the following questionnaires: fear of childbirth, sense of cohesion, andmother’s attachment to the fetus. The data were analyzed by descriptive and analytical statisticalmethods (Pearson correlation) using SPSS software version 22.RESULTS: The results showed that there was a significant negative relationship between the overallscore of maternal attachment to the fetus and fear of childbirth (r = −0.153, P = 0.001). However,there is a significant positive relationship between the overall score of maternal attachment to thefetus and the sense of cohesion (r = 0.112, P = 0.01). The results also showed a significant negativerelationship between the fear of childbirth and the dimensions of maternal attachment to the fetus,including interaction with the fetus (P = 0.04), self‑sacrifice (P = 0.04), and attributing characteristics tothe fetus (P = 0.05). There was a positive and significant relationship between the sense of coherenceand the subsequent acceptance of the maternal role of maternal attachment to the fetus (P = 0.004).CONCLUSION: More attention of prenatal care provider to the psychological issues of the pregnantmother and their fears and worries can lead to appropriate interventions in this field, and as a result,mothers’ attachment to their fetus has increased so that they can take proper care during andafter pregnancy.