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The Relation between Pregnant Women's Self-Efficacy and Their Maternal-Fetal Attachment


Hadayat A. Amasha
Shaymaa A. Abdel-Haleem
Abeer M. El Maghawery
Gehan A. Elbahlowan

Abstract




Context: Several prenatal and postnatal factors may influence Maternal-Fetal-Attachment (MFA). Few local types of research addressed the relation between MFA and maternal self-efficacy.
Aim: To assess the relation between pregnant women's self-efficacy and their MFA.
Methods: The study was carried out at the Specialized Maternity Hospital in Port-Said, Egypt, using a cross-sectional analytic study design on a sample of 240 pregnant women attending the setting for follow-up singleton normal pregnancy. The data were collected using a structured interview questionnaire with two standard scales, namely the Maternal Self-Efficacy Scale and Maternal-Fetal Attachment (MFA) Scale. The fieldwork lasted from December 2019 to April 2020.


Results: Women's ages ranged between 17 and 42 years, and 50% were primigravida. The self-efficacy scores had a wide range (1.3-5.0), with a median of 2.90 from a maximum of 5.00. The median MFA score was 3.59 with a maximum of 5.00. A significant positive correlation was found between self-efficacy and MFA scores (r=0.197). In multivariate analysis, the duration of marriage and income were significant positive predictors of self-efficacy score, while age and previous abortions were significant negative predictors. As an MFA score, the level of education, husband age, planned pregnancy, and self-efficacy score was its positive predictors.


Conclusion: Pregnant women’s self-efficacy has a positive influence on their prenatal MFA. Therefore, increasing pregnant women’s self-efficacy through training and support is highly recommended during antenatal care (ANC) visits.





Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 2636-400X
print ISSN: 2636-3992