The Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Pregnancy and Mother-infant Prenatal Bonding.
Matern Child Health J
; 26(11): 2221-2227, 2022 Nov.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1990718
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 stress and anxiety on prenatal attachment during the second trimester of gestation. Pregnancy is an important stage for mothers-to-be in creating representations of themselves as a "mother", with the developing attachment relationship to the unborn child considered as a milestone in the future parent's developmental trajectory. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the national health measures installed can hence have consequences on these representations and on prenatal attachment. Our sample consisted of 95 mothers that were recruited from a prenatal ultrasound screening center. Results suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected prenatal attachment (PAI) with significant correlations between PAI total score and age, anxiety (DASS) and stress (IES-R). When entered in one model looking for predictors of PAI total score, age and COVID-19 stress were the only variables found to significantly predict prenatal attachment. We argue for a cultural component in explaining these results, hypothesizing that stress could trigger defensive strategies, leading to more investment in the attachment relationship, potentially playing the role of a protective factor.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
/
Mothers
Type of study:
Etiology study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Infant
/
Pregnancy
Language:
English
Journal:
Matern Child Health J
Journal subject:
Perinatology
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S10995-022-03464-9
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