Trait Anxiety, Negative Emotions, and the Mothers' Adaptation to an infant born subsequent to late Pregnancy Loss: a Case–Control Study
✍ Scribed by J. A. M. Hunfeld; A. K. G. Taselaar-Kloos; G. Agterberg; J. W. Wladimiroff; J. Passchier
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 81 KB
- Volume
- 17
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0197-3851
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Women with (n=27) a history of late pregnancy loss (_20 weeks) due to congenital anomalies who had completed the subsequent pregnancy with a live-birth were compared with a group of mothers with newborns without such a history (n=29) at 4 and 16 weeks post-partum. The following aspects were assessed: depression, anxiety, psychological distress, and mother-infant adaptation. The women with a previous pregnancy loss showed significantly more negative emotions than the women without such a history. In addition, they considered that their healthy baby experienced more problems with sleeping, crying, eating, and acquiring a regular pattern of this behaviour than the average baby. They also perceived their baby as being less ideal than the women without a previous pregnancy loss. These problems were particularly present 4 weeks post-partum and were significantly positively related to trait anxiety. The implications of this study are that in women with a history of late pregnancy loss, family physicians and welfare officers should be made aware of possible problems in the mother and in mother-infant adaptation shortly after a normal live-birth, particularly in those with high trait anxiety. They will then be able to arrange psychological support at an early stage. 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.