Determination of the relationship between obstetric violence and mother-infant bonding in women who gave birth vaginally

Objective: This study aimed to determine the relationship between obstetric violence and mother-infant bonding among women who had vaginal deliveries. Materials and Methods: Designed as a descriptive, cross-sectional, and correlational study, the research was conducted in the city center of Tokat between October 2024 and January 2025. The study included women who had a live vaginal birth within the first 40 days postpartum and voluntarily agreed to participate. With a 95% confidence interval and 5% margin of error, the sample size was calculated as 264, and 267 women were included in the study. The data were collected online with the "Descriptive Information Data Form", "Obstetric Severity Scale (OSS)" and "Mother-Infant Attachment Scale (MIAS)". The permission of the Ethics Committee for Research in Sciences was obtained. The data collected were evaluated on the computer. Results: The mean Obstetric Violence Scale score of the participants was 18.78±14.98, and the mean Mother-Infant Bonding Scale score was 1.95±2.43. An increase in obstetric violence was found to be associated with weaker mother-infant bonding; women exposed to higher levels of violence had lower bonding scores. A positive and significant correlation was identified between obstetric violence and mother-infant bonding (r=0.283, p<0.01), and regression analysis revealed that obstetric violence had a significant and positive effect on bonding (β= 0.046, p<0.001). Obstetric violence explained 7.7% of the variance in mother-infant bonding (R² = 0.077). Among the subdimensions of obstetric violence, only "ineffective communication" was found to be a significant predictor (R² = 0.123, p = 0.008), accounting for 12.3% of the total variance (R² = 0.123). Women who received an enema before birth had significantly higher obstetric violence scores compared to those who did not receive it, women who received good support from health professionals during the birth process had significantly lower obstetric violence scores compared to those who received poor support, women who breastfed their babies immediately after birth had lower obstetric violence scores, women who had delayed breastfeeding or did not breastfeed had higher obstetric violence scores, and perception of violence from health professionals negatively affected mother-infant bonding. Factors such as occupational status, number of pregnancies, postpartum emotional state, interventions during birth, support received during labor, skin-to-skin contact, and breastfeeding were also found to have significant effects. Conclusion: The study examined various demographic and obstetric factors affecting obstetric violence and mother-infant bonding, and the results demonstrate that increased obstetric violence is associated with decreased bonding. To eliminate exposure to obstetric violence an important factor that disrupts the bonding process midwives should raise awareness and support mothers in experiencing a positive birth, thereby promoting the development of healthy mother-infant bonds. Keywords: Obstetric Violence, Mother, Newborn, Mother-Infant Bonding, Vaginal Birth