Postpartum bonding: the impact of stressful life events during pregnancy

Abstract

Objective

We aimed to determine if and to what extent a woman’s exposure to stressful life events were associated with impaired maternal bonding by using a sample of high-income Italian women.

Methods

In the second day postpartum, 425 healthy puerperae responded to Life Experiences Survey (LES), Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale (MBS), and to the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS).

Results

Analysis revealed that the stressful life events scored by LES were a significantly predictor of impaired bonding as measured by MIBS (β = 0.04; t = 3.45; p < .001) and of postpartum depression symptoms as measured by EPDS total score (β = 0.32; t = 4.86; p < .001) as well as its subscales Anhedonia (β = 0.059; t = 4.99; p < .001), Anxiety (β = 0.03; t = 5.72; p < .001), and Depression (β = 0.05; t = 6.53; p < .001). Moreover, the partial correlation between EPDS total score and MIBS accounting for LES positive and negative scores was statistically significant (r = 0.208; n = 332; p < .001).

Conclusion

The findings emphasize the importance of identifying mothers with negative experiences toward pregnancy and delivery to address possible interventions beyond hospital-based antenatal care to improve bonding and maternal mental outcomes.

Keywords:

• Stressful life events
• pregnancy
• bonding
• postpartum depressive symptoms

Ethical approval

Institutional Review Board (Policlinico Abano Terme) approval was obtained.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).