Association between fetal inutero wellness and anxiety, depression, adulthood attachment features, prenatal attachment during pregnancy

Aim of study (Objective) : It is proposed that first attachment relationship between mother and her baby was built before delivery. Maternal-fetal attachment is the only phenomenon that describes relationship between mother and her unborn baby. Contrubuting factors of this very special relationship and their effects on fetal wellness are remained unknown. The aim of unicentral multidiciplinary prospective naturalistic designed study is to evaluate prenatal maternal attachment, attachment features during pregnancy, effects of anxiety and depression on prenatal maternal attachment, effects of adulthood attachment features, anxiety and depression in pregnant women on fetal inutero wellness and effects of prenatal maternal attachment on fetal umblical cord blood flow, birth weight and baby?s breastfeeding adaptation duration. Method: 145 volunteered pregnant women between their 28th and 40th gestational weeks and their babies who were evaluated during routine obstetrical examination between June 2012 and October 2012 in Dokuz Eylul University Obstetric and Gynecology Department were recruited in this study. Findings: It has been found that mothers who had additional health problems and planned their conceptions, had higher prenatal attachment scores. The group of mothers who had had ?very good? partnership, also had higher prenatal attachment scores. According to adulthood attachment features, the ones who had higher anxiety scores also had lower prenatal attachment scores during their pregnancy. Pregnant women with higher depressive scores had lower prenatal attachment scores respectively. According to attachment features of pregnant women with higher avoidance scores, thier babies? birth weigth were found lower. The mothers with 11 point or higher score on Beck depression scale; their babies inutero umblical arterial SD ratio percentile values are found to be lower. Prenatal attachment scores were higher among the mothers of the babies that were easily adapted to breastfeeding before their first week of age when they were compered with mother of the babies that were adapted breastfeeding after their first week of age. Discussion: There are limited information in literature, about mothers attachment features effects on mother-baby attachment, inutero fetal wellness, umblical cord blood flow, birth weight, type of birth, duration between delivery and adaption of breastfeeding. The findings of this study suggests that its important to evaluate mothers? prenatal attachment features during thier pregnancy so that it?s possible to determine the women in risk of possible poor attachment features and support them psychosocially to develop healthy attachment realtionships and provide higher quality of interaction after birth and also provide secure attachment between mothers and thier babies as preventive medicine and mental health promotion. It?s well known that breastfeeding is very important on interaction between mother and baby and helps to create bounds between mother and her baby and develop secure attachment but considering that mother-baby attachment begins during prenatal period; it?s also posibble to suggest that prefering breastfeeding and babies adaption duration of breastfeeding may be effected by prenatal attachment .