Factors Influencing Maternal-Fetal attachment among Pregnant Women

Abstract

This study was conducted in order to identify factors influencing maternal-fetal attachment among pregnant women, considering the factors presented in Mercer's theory: Becoming a Mother (pregnancy stress, self-esteem, dyadic adjustment, sense of mastery, antepartum stress). The data was collected through structured questionnaires from 140 pregnant women who visited the obstetric clinic and public health centers in a metropolitan area to have prenatal tests from August 23th to November 25th 2014. The data were analyzed by SPSS 20 software using descriptive statistics, the t-test, ANOVA, the Pearson's correlation coefficients and a stepwise multiple regression. The results were as follows: Maternal-fetal attachment in the group of pregnant women under 30 years of age was significantly higher than that in the group of over the age of 31(t=2.79, p=.004). Primiparas had higher maternal-fetal attachment than multiparas(F=3.27, p=.041). There was a negative correlation between pregnancy stress (r=-0.22, p=.009) and maternal-fetal attachment. Self-esteem (r=0.45, p