Pregnancy after 35: A preliminary report on maternal-fetal attachment

Abstract

This paper examines whether a woman's level of attachment to her unborn child at mid-pregnancy varies according to her age and parity. Cranley's (1981) Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale (MFAS) was completed by 40 women (10 nulliparous women aged 35 and over, each matched with three others, namely a multiparous woman also aged 35+, and two younger women, one nulliparous and one multiparous). It was hypothesized that the older sample would be more ‘tentative’ than the younger in admitting to feelings of attachment to the fetus, because the former are likely to have been informed that increased maternal age can be associated with increased risk to the fetus of conditions such as Down's syndrome. Examination of the MFAS scores revealed that there was a tendency (non-significant) for increased age to be associated with decreased levels of attachment, but only if a woman was expecting her first baby, and not if she was expecting her second or third.