The Effect of Fathers’ Training Regarding Attachment Skills on Maternal-Fetal Attachments among Primigravida Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

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Abstract

Background: Fathers’ cooperation has been less taken into account in the process of pregnancy. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of training the fathers regarding attachment skills on maternal-fetal attachment in primigravida women in 2013.

Methods: This randomized controlled trial was performed on 150 qualified pregnant women’s husbands. The intervention group took part in four 90-minute sessions of maternal-fetal attachment training held once a week. On the other hand, the control group received the routine pregnancy care. Both groups completed Spielberger’s anxiety scale and Cranley’s questionnaire before and after the intervention. Then, the data were analyzed using paired and independent t-test. Besides, P<0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

Results: The intervention group’s mean score of attachment was 55.98±6.99 and 61.90±5.41 before and after the intervention, respectively. The results of paired t-test revealed a significant difference between the intervention and the control group regarding their mean scores of attachment before and one month after the intervention (P<0.001). Additionally, the results of independent t-test showed a significant difference between the two groups regarding the five dimensions of the questionnaire, namely interaction with the baby (P<0.001), acceptance of maternal role (P<0.001), differentiation between oneself and the baby (P<0.001), attribution of some features to the baby (P=0.01), and self-devotion (P=0.01).

Conclusion: Training the fathers regarding the attachment behaviors and skills led to an increase in the maternal-fetal attachment scores. Thus, paternal training should be considered in pregnancy care programs.

Trial Registration Number: IRCT2012091910886N1

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Most cited references 27

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Paternal depression in the postnatal period and child development: a prospective population study.

Paul Ramchandani, Alan Stein, Jonathan Evans … (2005)

Depression is common and frequently affects mothers and fathers of young children. Postnatal depression in mothers affects the quality of maternal care, and can lead to disturbances in their children's social, behavioural, cognitive, and physical development. However, the effect of depression in fathers during the early years of a child's life has received little attention. As part of a large, population-based study of childhood, we assessed the presence of depressive symptoms in mothers (n=13,351) and fathers (n=12,884) 8 weeks after the birth of their child with the Edinburgh postnatal depression scale (EPDS). Fathers were reassessed at 21 months. We identified any subsequent development of behavioural and emotional problems in their children (n=10,024) at age 3.5 years with maternal reports on the Rutter revised preschool scales. Information was available for 8431 fathers, 11,833 mothers, and 10,024 children. Depression in fathers during the postnatal period was associated with adverse emotional and behavioural outcomes in children aged 3.5 years (adjusted odds ratio 2.09, 95% CI 1.42-3.08), and an increased risk of conduct problems in boys (2.66, 1.67-4.25). These effects remained even after controlling for maternal postnatal depression and later paternal depression. Our findings indicate that paternal depression has a specific and persisting detrimental effect on their children's early behavioural and emotional development.

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Fathers’ engagement in pregnancy and childbirth: evidence from a national survey

Maggie Redshaw, Jane Henderson (2013)

Background Early involvement of fathers with their children has increased in recent times and this is associated with improved cognitive and socio-emotional development of children. Research in the area of father’s engagement with pregnancy and childbirth has mainly focused on white middle-class men and has been mostly qualitative in design. Thus, the aim of this study was to understand who was engaged during pregnancy and childbirth, in what way, and how paternal engagement may influence a woman’s uptake of services, her perceptions of care, and maternal outcomes. Methods This study involved secondary analysis of data on 4616 women collected in a 2010 national maternity survey of England asking about their experiences of maternity care, health and well-being up to three months after childbirth, and their partners’ engagement in pregnancy, labour and postnatally. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-square, binary logistic regression and generalised linear modelling. Results Over 80% of fathers were ‘pleased or ‘overjoyed’ in response to their partner’s pregnancy, over half were present for the pregnancy test, for one or more antenatal checks, and almost all were present for ultrasound examinations and for labour. Three-quarters of fathers took paternity leave and, during the postnatal period, most fathers helped with infant care. Paternal engagement was highest in partners of primiparous white women, those living in less deprived areas, and in those whose pregnancy was planned. Greater paternal engagement was positively associated with first contact with health professionals before 12 weeks gestation, having a dating scan, number of antenatal checks, offer and attendance at antenatal classes, and breastfeeding. Paternity leave was also strongly associated with maternal well-being at three months postpartum. Conclusions This study demonstrates the considerable sociodemographic variation in partner support and engagement. It is important that health professionals recognise that women in some sociodemographic groups may be less supported by their partner and more reliant on staff and that this may have implications for how women access care.

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Development of a tool for the measurement of maternal attachment during pregnancy.

M Cranley (2015)

A 24-item scale with five subscales was developed to measure the construct of maternal-fetal attachment during pregnancy and tested on 71 subjects in the third trimester of pregnancy. Content validity was built into the scale. A coefficient of reliability of .85 was demonstrated for the scale with the reliability of the subscales ranging from .52 to .73. Scores of the MFA scale were positively correlated with the amount of available social support reported by women and with their perceptions of babies three days after birth. There was a negative association between MFA scores and the amount of stress perceived by the women. Further refinement of the scale is indicated.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Int J Community Based Nurs Midwifery

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Int J Community Based Nurs Midwifery

Journal ID (publisher-id): IJCBNM

Title: International Journal of Community Based Nursing and Midwifery

Publisher: Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (Shiraz, Iran )

ISSN (Print): 2322-2476

ISSN (Electronic): 2322-4835

Publication date (Print): October 2014

Volume: 2

Issue: 4

Pages: 259-267

Affiliations

[1 ]Community Based Psychiatric Care Research Center, Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;

[2 ]Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;

[3 ]Community Based Psychiatric Care Research Center, Department of Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;

[4 ]Infertility Research Center, Department of Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

Author notes

Corresponding author: Marzieh Akbarzade, MSc; Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box: 71345-1359, Shiraz, Iran Tel: +98 71 36474250 Fax: +98 71 36474252 Email: akbarzadehmarzieh@yahoo.com

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Publisher ID: ijcbnm-2-259

PMC ID: 4201213

PubMed ID: 25349869

SO-VID: f5800dd3-198d-4174-92e1-642f660d3f41

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This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The Effect of Fathers’ Training Regarding Attachment Skills on Maternal-Fetal Attachments among Primigravida Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

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Advocacy for Maternal and Women’s Health

Most cited references 27

Paternal depression in the postnatal period and child development: a prospective population study.

Fathers’ engagement in pregnancy and childbirth: evidence from a national survey

Development of a tool for the measurement of maternal attachment during pregnancy.

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