Maternal-fetal emotional relationship during pregnancy, its related factors and outcomes in Iranian pregnant women: a panel study protocol

BACKGROUND: Considering the importance of attachment in child’s development and mother’s health, various related factors and also lack of necessary information in this regard in our country, the research team decides to conduct this study to evaluate maternal-fetal attachment during pregnancy, its changes and post-partum consequences on mother-infant relationship. This process should be studied during pregnancy and also after delivery so that the effect of related factors and the changes in attachment over time could be determined and comprehensible information about the effective underlying conditions on this issue would be gathered. METHODS: The present research is a longitudinal study (panel study). Data gathering would start at the first trimester, continue during second and third trimesters of pregnancy, first visit after delivery, second, fourth and end sixth months later. Pregnant women in the first trimester would be selected and contacted. If they have inclusion criteria, they would be selected as a participant. At first, their demographic-reproductive characteristics, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (SSTAI), The Social Support Appraisal (SSA), Adult Attachment Scale (AAS) and Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) would be completed; during the second trimester, BDI, SSTAI and Cranley’s Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale (CMFAS) would be completed. In the third trimester, the same questionnaires would be completed. During the first month after birth, Avant’s questionnaire of Mother-Infant Attachment Behaviors would be completed. At the second, fourth and sixth months after delivery Muller’s Mother -Infant Attachment Scale would also be completed. DISCUSSION: The results of the study will be provided to maternal child health policy-makers in the health system. This information could not be obtained through cross-sectional studies and through one episode of data collection and more studies are needed to provide us a perspective of the mother-infant relation over time. Studying attachment during pregnancy would provide us a chance to learn more about this process.