Antenatal Depression and Mother-Fetal Interaction

Kwon, Mikyung

Abstract

The purposes of this descriptive survey study were to describe antenatal depression and level of mother-fetal interaction, and to assess mother's behavior and feeling during mother-fetal interaction, in order to develop a base for nursing intervention programs for mothers who have antenatal depression. METHOD: Data were collected from 174 pregnant women who visited one public health center and OBGY clinic in Gangneung city. The instrument used for this study was a self-report questionnaire to identify depression (BDI), and mother-fetal interaction.
RESULTS
Of the mothers 63.2% were in the normal range for antenatal depression, 21.3% in the mild group and 15.5% were in the moderate to severe group. For antenatal depression, there were significant differences among the income, planned pregnant, health status, marriage satisfaction, family support, husband's love. The mean for mother-fetal interaction was 29.88+/-4.91. For mother-infant interaction, there were significant differences in education, income, pregnant number, delivery number, feeding plan, marriage satisfaction, family support, husband's love. There was a weak correlations between antenatal depression and mother-fetal interaction but it did not reach statistical significance.
CONCLUSION
Antenatal depression and mother-fetal interaction influence fetal development. It is essential to assess and provide immediate care to mothers who have antenatal depression and lower level mother-fetal Interaction.