Postpartum evaluation of the role of maternal characteristics and mode of delivery on maternal attachment, anxiety and depression; a study conducted in Turkey

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The primary aim of this study was to compare mother-infant bonding (MIB) in patients who delivered vaginally and with cesarean section (C/S) using the Maternal Attachment Inventory (MAI), Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and Postpartum Specific Anxiety Scale (PSAS) in the Turkish population. The secondary aim was to evaluate the correlations between the MAI, EPDS, and PSAS scores and their association with sociodemographic data. METHOD: A total of 200 patients were divided into two groups. One hundred women who delivered vaginally were included in the vaginal delivery (NVD) group, and 100 who delivered with C/S were included in the C/S group. The demographic data of the subjects, including age, gravidity, and parity, were recorded, and a detailed anamnesis was taken on the day of hospitalization for delivery. The newborns’ sex were also taken into account. All patients were asked to complete the MAI, EPDS, and PSAS at the third-month postpartum control. RESULTS: The PSAS score in the NVD group was calculated to be 68.9 ± 9.0, which was significantly higher than the score in the C/S group of 65.0 ± 9.6 (p = 0.005). However, the MAI and EPDS scores in both groups were calculated to be similar (p = 0.833 and p = 0.260, respectively). A significant negative correlation was observed between age and the MAI (r = -0.180, p = 0.011) and between the number of children and the MAI (r = -0.140, p = 0.048). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study, which was conducted using a Turkish cohort, show that maternal age at delivery and the number of children at home had an effect on MIB. Conversely, mode of delivery did not influence MIB in this study population. Multicenter studies with a larger number of subjects are needed to reach a general conclusion regarding the Turkish population. (www.actabiomedica.it)