Prenatal attachment and risk perception in pregnant women in a high-risk age group

This study aims to determine prenatal attachment and risk perception in pregnant women in a high-risk age group. The sample of this descriptive study consisted of 213 pregnant women (71 women in the 18-19 age group, 71 women in the 20-34 age group, 71 women in the 35 and older age group) who sought treatment in the Pregnancy Outpatient Clinic of Hatay Training and Research Hospital between April 2022 and December 2022. Data were collected through the Socio-Demographic Form, the Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI), and the Risk Perception in Pregnancy Scale (RPPS). IBM-SPSS V24 package program was utilized for the statistical analyses of the data. Statistical analyses included Independent Samples T-test, Mann Whitney U, One-Way ANOVA, and Kruskal Wallis H analyses. The relationship between the scale scores was determined using Spearman's and Pearson-x2 correlation analysis. Statistical significance was accepted as p<0,05. Participating pregnant women's PAI total median score was found 63 [21-84], and the RPPS total median score was found 15 [0-96.1]. No statistically significant difference was detected between the PAI and RPPS scores according to age groups. A statistically significant difference was found between pregnant women's PAI scores and the employment status of their spouse, number of pregnancies, receiving pregnancy education, and having a planned pregnancy (p<0.05). A statistically significant difference was found between pregnant women's RPPS scores and their place of residence, education level, education level and employment status of the spouse, history of miscarriage, experiencing problems during pregnancy, and the planned mode of delivery (p<0.05). In conclusion, this study found that pregnant women had a good level of prenatal attachment, and their risk perception was low. It was also found that age did not affect the level of prenatal attachment and risk perception during pregnancy. Keywords: Pregnancy, Nursing, Prenatal Attachment, Risk Perception, High-risk