title: Relationships among prenatal maternal attachment, presence of postnatal depressive symptoms, and maternal role attainment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the relationships among a woman's attachment to her fetus, the presence of postpartum depressive symptoms, and subsequent perceptions of maternal role attainment three months after birth
  
  
  METHODS
  A longitudinal, panel design
  
  
  METHODS
  Hospital-sponsored childbirth education classes
  
  
  METHODS
  Primiparous women (N = 136) at 24-40 weeks of pregnancy and 9-14 weeks after the birth
  
  
  METHODS
  Perceived Competence Scale, Myself as Mother Scale, and My Baby Scale
  
  
  RESULTS
  Prenatal maternal attachments was positively related to maternal role attainment to maternal role attainment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings enhance maternal identity theory and provide a means to evaluate the transition to motherhood.
authors.affiliation: Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, USA. erfowles@titan.iwu.edu
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Fowles
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D019052:Depression, Postpartum; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009769:Object Attachment; D011247:Pregnancy; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors