title: Maternal Bonding through Pregnancy and Postnatal: Findings from an Australian Longitudinal Study.
abstract: BackgroundMother-infant bonding provides the foundation for secure attachment through the lifespan and organizes many facets of infant social-emotional development, including later parenting.AimsTo describe maternal bonding to offspring across the pregnancy and postnatal periods, and to examine a broad range of sociodemographic and psychosocial predictors of the maternal-offspring bond.MethodsData were drawn from a sample of 372 pregnant women participating in an Australian population-based longitudinal study of postnatal health and development. Participants completed maternal bonding questionnaires at each trimester and 8 weeks postnatal. Data were collected on a range of sociodemographic and psychosocial factors.ResultsBonding increased significantly through pregnancy, in quality and intensity. Regression analyses indicated that stronger antenatal bonding at all time points (trimesters 1 through 3) predicted stronger postnatal bonding. Older maternal age, birth mother being born in a non-English speaking country, mother not working full time, being a first-time mother, breast-feeding problems, and baby's crying behavior all predicted poorer bonding at 8 weeks postpartum.ConclusionThese novel findings have important implications for pregnant women and their infant offspring, and for health care professionals working in perinatal services. Importantly, interventions to strengthen maternal-fetal bonding would be beneficial during pregnancy to enhance postnatal bonding and infant health outcomes.
authors.affiliation: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Larissa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rossen
authors.affiliation: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Faculty of Health, School of Psychology, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.|Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Population Studies of Adolescents, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|Department of Paediatrics and Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Delyse
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hutchinson
authors.affiliation: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Judy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Lucinda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.affiliation: National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Allsop
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Sydney, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Elizabeth J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health, School of Psychology, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.|Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Population Studies of Adolescents, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|Department of Paediatrics and Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Jacqui A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Macdonald
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health, School of Psychology, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.|Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Population Studies of Adolescents, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|Department of Paediatrics and Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Craig
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Olsson
authors.affiliation: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Richard P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Mattick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D033261:Maternal-Fetal Relations / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009769:Object Attachment; D018743:Perinatal Care / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D037841:Pregnant People / Q000523:psychology*; D058996:Quality Improvement; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires