Evaluation of the relationship between postpartum security sense and mother-infant bonding of mothers in the postpartum period

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between postpartum mothers' feelings about postpartum safety and mother to infant bonding. Material Method: This is a descriptive, cross - sectional study of mothers in their postpartum periods who were referred at Family Health Centres in city of Amasya during four months (February-May 2021). A simple random sampling method was used to recruit participants. 130 women agreed to participate in the study. The research data was collected using the "Participant Characteristic Data Sheet", Parents' Postnatal Sense Of Security Scale (PPSS) and Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale (MIBS)" after obtaining the necessary permissions. Data analysis was performed using the Student'st-test, the Mann Whitney-U test and the Kruskal Wallis test on SPSS 25.0, and the error level of p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: According to our research findings, it was found that the average score of the mothers' postpartum safety feelings scale was 50.42±9.796 and the average score of the mother to infant bonding scale was 1.12±1.842. It was determined that there was a statistically significant difference in PPSS scores of mothers according to income level, pregnancy, receiving information during birth and postpartum, spouse support and marital harmony perception status within socio-demographic characteristics (p<0.05). In terms of MIBS score, it was determined that there was only a statistically significant difference for the family type variable (p<0.05). Conclusion: A(r=-0.181) significant and very weak negative association was found between the PPSS and MIBS scores of mothers. (p<0.05). Considering the relationship between mothers' postpartum security feelings and mother-infant attachment, it is recommended that midwives incorporate evidence-based practices that will increase attachment (skin contact, mother and baby staying in the same room, starting breastfeeding immediately) in their clinical practices in the relevant units in order to provide more qualified midwifery care. Key Words: Midwifery, Mother To İnfant Bonding, Postpartum Period, Sense Of Security