Pregnancy after 35 and attachment to the fetus

Abstract

This paper examines whether a woman's level of attachment to her unborn child varies according to her age, parity and the stage of pregnancy. Cranley's (1981) Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale (MFAS) was completed at mid-pregnancy by 104 women. Women of 35 and over (26 nulliparas and 26 multiparas) were compared with two equivalent groups of women in their twenties. Parity, occupational and educational status were controlled in the two age groups. At late pregnancy 96 of these women again completed the MFAS. It was hypothesized that the sample of older women would be more ‘tentative’ than the younger ones in admitting to feelings of attachment to the fetus (because the former are likely to be aware that raised maternal age can be associated with increased risk to the fetus of conditions such as Down's syndrome) and that this effect would change as the pregnancy progressed. Examination of the MFAS scores revealed that there was a significant tendency for increased age to be associated with decreased levels of attachment at mid-pregnancy but this age effect disappeared by late pregnancy.