Prenatal attachment in healthy and high-risk pregnancies

INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE: Secure attachment between the parent and the baby is necessary for postnatal healthy infant growth and development and in order for them to be happy, successful, and peaceful in their future periods. This study was carried out to identify the levels of prenatal attachment in healthy and risk pregnant women and the influencing factors. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The study, which was intended as a descriptive and comparative research, was carried out on a total of 308 pregnant women, 154 healthy and 154 risk, at Ankara Etlik Zübeyde Hanım Women's Health Training and Research Hospital, between 5 May / 10 November 2014. Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI) was used as a data collection tool with a questionnaire. Data obtained during the research were computerised and assessed by SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows) 20 Statistics programme. RESULTS: It was found that %32.47 of the pregnant women were between 29-33 years-old; %38.96 were primary school graduates and %69.81 were housewives. The mean of the total score from the Prenatal Attachment Inventory by the 308 pregnant women participating in the study was found to be (62,43±14,83, min:28, max:84). There was significant difference between the prenatal attachment levels of the pregnant women with a healthy pregnancy (57,7±16,62) and the prenatal attachment levels of risk pregnant women (67,16±10,96). The prenatal attachment inventory total score of pregnant women with healthy pregnancy were found to be significantly lower than those of risk pregnant women (p=0,001). CONCLUSION: It was found that prenatal attachment was higher in risk pregnant women than healthy pregnant women. It is thought that the attachment to the baby is higher due to the sense of losing and the stress factor being higher in risk pregnant women. Nurses must know the signs of positive and negative attachment and assess attachment in the prenatal period to support the family in improving attachment and strengthen the parents coping strategies. Keywords: Attachment, Attachment Behaviours, Pregnancy, Prenatal Attachment, Risk Pregnancy.