The effect of support perceived by the partner on prenatal attachment in pregnant women at risk

INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE: Attachment is a concept that has lifelong effects and continuity with the continuity of the positive conditions that occur between the mother and the baby in the prenatal period. Risky pregnancies are exposed to more stress and are negatively affected psychologically, thus making it difficult to adapt to the pregnancy process. It is known that pregnant women who receive adequate spousal support during pregnancy have low prenatal stress levels. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of support perceived by the spouse on prenatal attachment in high-risk pregnant women. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This analytical type study was conducted between 1 August and 30 October 2023 with 288 women who were hospitalized with the diagnosis of risky pregnancy in the Perinatology Service of Sakarya Training and Research Hospital Gynecology and Pediatrics Service Building. "Pregnant Introduction Form", "Perception of Partner Support During Pregnancy Scale (PPSDPC) " and "Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PBE)" were used to collect data. SPSS 22.0 package program, Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis test and Spearman correlation analysis were used to analyze the data. Significance was evaluated at p<0.05 level. RESULTS: It was found that there was a moderate positive correlation between the prenatal attachment inventory and the cognitive support sub-dimension (rs: 0.397, p=0.000), and a moderate positive correlation between the emotional and material support sub-dimensions and the total score average of the perception of partner support during pregnancy scale (rs: 0.397, p=0.000). : 0.432, p=0.000; rs: 0.445, p=0.000; rs: 0.476, p=0.000). CONCLUSION: It was observed that there was a significant positive relationship between PPSDPC and PBE score. Prenatal attachment was found to be higher in risky pregnant women in the 24-29 age group who had a high level of education, were able to receive spousal support and had a good economic level. It has been observed that there is a positive connection between spouses' support for pregnant women and prenatal attachment. Keywords: support, midwifery, spousal support, prenatal attachment, risky pregnancy