The relationship between optimality level and mother- infantattachment during pregnancy

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the level of optimality during pregnancy and mother-infant attachment. Materials and methods: The study is of analytical-cross-sectional type. It was carried out at the Aydın Women's Birth and Child Diseases Hospital of the Ministry of Health of Turkey. The universe of the study consisted of pregnant women who applied to the hospital for routine pregnancy follow-ups between December 1, 2021 and December 1, 2022. A total of 150 pregnant women, including 75 primiparous and 75 multiparous, who were between 20-42 weeks pregnant and met the inclusion criteria of the study, were selected from the universe by convenience sampling. Data were obtained using the 'Personal Information Form', 'Optimality Index Turkey Case Report Form Perinatal Background and Prenatal Period Optimality Index sections' and 'Prenatal Attachment Inventory' prepared by the researchers based on the literature. The data obtained from the research were expressed with descriptive statistics (number, percentage, average, standard deviation); chi-square, significance test between two averages in independent groups, Mann-Whitney U and correlation analyses were tested. Results: The participants' Perinatal Background Index was 84.69%, and their prenatal period optimality index was 82.75%. The Perinatal Background Index was 88.12% in primiparous women and 81.25% in multiparous women, and a statistically significant difference was found between them (t=-3.730, p<0.05). The prenatal period optimality index was 82.55% in primiparous women and 82.95% in multiparous women. The average score of the participants' Prenatal Attachment Inventory was 59.31±9.23, with 60.72±9.49 in primiparous women and 57.91±8.79 in multiparous women. No statistically significant difference was found between the prenatal period optimality index and Prenatal Attachment Inventory scores of primiparous and multiparous pregnant women (p>0.05). A statistically significant weak (r=0.239, p<0.001) relationship was found between the Perinatal Background Index and Prenatal Attachment Inventory scores in all participants and a moderate (r=0.397, p<0.001) relationship in primiparous women. It was determined that there was no statistically significant relationship between the prenatal period optimality index and Prenatal Attachment Inventory scores in all participants, primiparous and multiparous women (r=-0.072, p>0.05; r=-0.004, p>0.05; r=-0.138, p>0.05). Conclusion: The average scores of pregnant women's optimality indices and Prenatal Attachment Inventory are close to the highest score that can be obtained from scales. As the Perinatal Background Index increases in all participants and primiparous women, the scores obtained from Prenatal Attachment Inventory increase. There is no relationship between prenatal period optimality index and scores obtained from Prenatal Attachment Inventory.