The impact of gestational diabetes mellitus on perceived mother-infant bonding: a qualitative study

Figures & data

Table 1. Key characteristics of the participants.

Participant number	Age	Parity	Number of GDM pregnancies	Antenatal or postnatal	Ethnicity*	What does MIB mean to you?
1	41	3	1	Antenatal	White Other	“emotional and physical connection to your baby, that you can kind of start to develop when they’re in the womb”
2	41	1	1	Postnatal	White British	“it’s just about building a relationship”
3	33	1	1	Postnatal	White British	“I thought it would be like this instant, overwhelming surge of love, it felt more gradual than that”
4	28	2	1	Postnatal	White British	“the connection that you feel with your baby before and after birth, and I think it sort of grows throughout their life as well”
5	34	1	1	Postnatal	White British	“how close you feel with your baby, how you sort of instinctively know them”
6	40	1	1	Postnatal	White Other	“your connection with the baby, the emotions”
7	30	2	1	Postnatal	White British	“I think that it’s kind of pre and post-labour … you bond when you’re pregnant … and then post is really important”
8	36	0	1	Antenatal	White British	“at the moment she’s part of me and it feels like every time she moves it feels like a bonding moment”.
9	28	0	1	Antenatal	Japanese	“it’s just having ‘that’ connection”
10	34	1	1	Postnatal	Mixed Asian	“that he is happy with me. I am doing everything I can for him”
11	36	1	1	Postnatal	Asian	“my feelings towards her, I guess our interactions, and I guess just how I felt with having this new little person in my life I guess”
12	35	1	1	Postnatal	White British	“I felt like bonded to her the moment that I saw that positive line on the pregnancy test. I just loved her so much from the moment that happened and the moment that she went into my arms like I was bonded”.
13	33	2	1	Postnatal	White British	“it’s that kind of connection that you feel between each other”
14	28	0	1	Antenatal	White Other	“For me it means just how you are feeling and responding to your baby … and how you feel baby is responding to you … it’s a mutual thing. So even though baby is not out yet … you can interpret reciprocity by certain experiences like their kicks and movements”
15	31	2	1	Antenatal	White British	“I’ve long been of the opinion that when a woman finds out she’s pregnant, that she automatically has a connection”
16	35	2	1	Postnatal	White Other	“happy to hang out with her and do things … caring about her, feeding, not being angry about her keeping me up all night if she’s super hungry or having a bad day”
17	31	1	1	Postnatal	White British	“how much I love my baby.
18	33	1	1	Postnatal	White British	“it means sort of how I feel about my son, whether I’m attached to him”
19	31	1	1	Postnatal	White British	“bonding afterbirth once baby is here and building that bond with a kind of an actual baby rather than just kind of the idea of a baby”
20	42	3	3	Postnatal	Sri Lankan	“it’s just the connection between a mother and her baby”
21	34	2	1	Antenatal	Japanese	“connecting with your baby and feeling connected”
22	28	2	2	Postnatal	White British	“just having time with the child … making sure that they’re happy with you, you’re happy with them. They know that you’re their source of comfort and their protection if they need it”
23	32	1	2	Antenatal	White British	-
24	36	2	2	Postnatal	Indian	“the connection that you have with your child”.
25	32	2	2	Postnatal	White British	“how close you are with your baby”
26	35	2	1	Postnatal	White British	“just being able to feel a connection with your baby and feel that love for your baby”
27	31	2	2	Postnatal	White British	“it’s just sort of your connection with your child and your feelings that you have”
28	41	4	2	Antenatal	White British	“just that initial connection I guess, when you meet your baby finally”
29	38	1	2	Postnatal	Pakistani	Response not provided.
30	37	1	1	Antenatal	Black Caribbean	Response not provided.
31	33	2	2	Postnatal	White British	“in the beginning it’s all about the skin to skin and just being with your baby all the time and feeding”
32	38	1	1	Postnatal	Chinese	“I think it’s spending time with the baby and being happy with the baby”.
33	36	1	1	Postnatal	White British	“it’s about kind of building an attachment with your child and physical contact and … obviously builds for different people in different ways as well”.

*Ethnicity was defined by participants in response to the question: “Could you tell me the ethnicity with which you identify?”.