Maternal representations during pregnancy: A study of the five minute speech sample among primiparous women

The present study examined primiparous women's mental representations about their unborn baby in relation to their age, prenatal distress, depression, and family income. The sample included 108 expectant mothers, who were in the last trimester of their pregnancy and aged between 21 and 42 years (M = 29.8). The data was collected through home visits. Maternal representations were measured through the Five Minute Speech Sample (Gottschalk & Glesser, 1969) procedure and the samples were coded using the Narrative Coherence scale (Sher-Censor & Yates, 2010). Prenatal distress (Yali & Lobel, 1999) and depression were assessed through the Prenatal Distress Inventory and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale (Radloff, 1977) respectively. The correlations showed that there was variability in relationship among some scores such as focus, elaboration, acceptance, complexity, and coherence. The results of logistic regression analyses revealed that while mothers with higher levels of income used more elaborated narratives about their unborn babies and future mother-infant relationship, they were more concerned about the potential challenges of parenting compared to those with lower levels of income. Moreover, they were more likely to be distracted and lose their focus instead of keeping the baby and relationship as the focal subject of the speech. The practical and methodological implications are discussed from a scientist-practitioner perspective.