Investigation of the Relationship Between Mothers’ Chilbirth Experiences and Postpartum Maternal Attachment

Abstract

Aim: Childbirth is one of the most special experiences in a woman’s life. The relationship between negative birth experience and postpartum emotional problems has been reported in the literature. However, its association with maternal attachment has been less reported. Therefore this study was conducted to investigate the relationship between mothers’birth experience and postpartum maternal attachment. Methods: This cross sectional and descriptive study was conducted 103 mothers who had a normal vaginal delivery in a university hospital between January and December 2018. Data were collected with the introductory information form, The Perception of Birth Scale and Maternal Attachment Inventory. The introductory information form and The Perception of Birth Scale were collected in the clinic within the first 24 hours after the birth. The Maternal Attachment Scale was sent to the mothers one month after the birth via e-mail. They were asked to fill in the scale themselves and resubmit it in the same way. Results: The mean age of the mothers was 27.65 ± 4.69, 35.9% of them were primary school graduates, 62.1% of them were not working in any job and 46.6% of them have first birth experience. Enema was applied to 54.4% of the mothers during birth, oxytocin induction was applied to 46.6% of the mothers, amniotomy to 36.9% and episiotomy to 62.1% of the mothers. Fourty seven percent of the mothers evaluated their birth experience as good. The Perception of Birth Scale total mean score was 78.32±14.74, Maternal Attachment Inventory mean score was 101.07± 4.40, and no significant difference was found between birth experience and maternal attachment (p>0.05). Conclusions: As a result of the research, no relationship was found between birth experience and maternal attachment.