Purpose : The purpose of this study was to identify factors that influence the maternal-fetal attachment among pregnant women in Korea
Methods : A descriptive study was conducted with 134 pregnant women from obstetric gynecology hospital and public health center located in a metropolitan area. Participating pregnant women completed a packet of self-report questionnaires on value of pregnancy stress, self-esteem, dyadic adjustment, sense of mastery, antepartum stress, maternal-fetal attachment along with demographics. Data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, t-test, one-way ANOVA, as well as descriptive statistics. Stepwise multiple regression was performed to identify factors that most influence the value of maternal-fetal attachment among pregnant women.
Results : According to the general characteristics , the difference of maternal-fetal attachment showed that maternal-fetal attachment in pregnant women under 30 years old was significantly higher than women over age 31( p<0.05). Also, primipara''s maternal-fetal attachment is higher than that of multipara(p<0.05). The value of pregnancy stress and maternal-fetal attachment showed a statistically significant inverse correlation(r=-.224, p<0.01). The value of self-esteem(r=.445, p<0.01), dyadic adjustment(r=.415, p<0.01), sense of mastery(r=.242, p<0.01) showed a statistically significant positive correlation with maternal-fetal attachment. Stepwise multiple regression found that the equation consisting of self-esteem, dyadic adjustment, age explained about 26.1% of variance of the maternal-fetal attachment.
Conclusion : Factors influencing maternal-fetal attachment among pregnancy women was investigated using Becoming a mother of Mercer presented a theory. There are factors influencing maternal-fetal attachment on the basis of maternal-fetal attachment necessary to screen the population at risk to be low to be applied to develop a program to promote maternal-fetal attachment.