Predictors of postpartum mother-infant bonding in a low-resource setting

from urban India

Supraja T A1,2, Kavita V Jangam2 and Prabha S Chandra1

Introduction
Perinatal mental health issues can affect a mother’s ability to bond with her baby and to be
sensitive and attuned to the baby’s emotions and needs. Past research has established the strong
association of perinatal mental health factors on mother-infant bonding.

Objectives
The current study examined the relationship of perinatal mental health and psychosocial factors
with mother-infant bonding.

Methods
In this longitudinal analysis, 106 mothers were assessed during the third trimester of pregnancy
and when their infants were 8-16 weeks old on various measures - antepartum and postpartum
depressive and anxiety symptoms, psychosocial stress, multidimensional social support, life
events and intimate partner violence (IPV). Mother-infant bonding was assessed during the
postpartum using the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ). This 6-point Likert type scale
had a total score between 0-125 with lower scores indicating better dyadic bonding.
Correlational and linear regression analysis were performed to identify the associated factors

Results
The mean score on PBQ was 12.81(SD=10.719). Lower education, lower income, antepartum
and postpartum depressive and anxiety symptoms, psychosocial stress, partner violence and life
events were associated with postpartum bonding. For a unit increase in antepartum stress scores,
mother-infant bonding scores decreased by 1.7 units. For a unit increase in postpartum
depression scores, the mother-infant bonding score decreased by .63 units. Increase in the IPV
score by one unit resulted in an increase in the mother-infant bonding scores by 1.2 units during
the antepartum period and by 2 units during the postpartum period. This model explained 30.3%
of the variance in mother-infant bonding scores for this sample.

Conclusion
It is important to assess the psychosocial risks of perinatal mothers alongside the mental health
status while addressing mother-infant bonding problems, as they have a crucial impact.

Affiliations:
1
Department of Psychiatry, NIMHANS, Bangalore, India
2
Department of Psychiatric Social Work, NIMHANS, Bangalore, India

Contact Details:

Email: supraja.t.a@gmail.com
Mobile: +91 9742208980