Birth Experience Mediates the Association Between Fear of Childbirth and Mother-Child-Bonding Up to 14 Months Postpartum: Findings From the Prospective Cohort Study DREAM

Lara Seefeld; Victoria Weise; Marie Kopp; Susanne Knappe; Susan Garthus-Niegel

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.776922

Birth Experience Mediates the Association Between Fear of Childbirth and Mother-Child-Bonding Up to 14 Months Postpartum: Findings From the Prospective Cohort Study DREAM

Front Psychiatry. 2022 Jan 20:12:776922. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.776922. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Lara Seefeld^{1

2}, Victoria Weise², Marie Kopp², Susanne Knappe³, Susan Garthus-Niegel^{2

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
² Faculty of Medicine of the Technische Universität Dresden, Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine, Dresden, Germany.
³ Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
⁴ Faculty of Human Medicine, Institute for Systems Medicine (ISM), Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
⁵ Department of Child Health and Development, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.

Abstract

Objective: To explore the longitudinal associations between prepartum fear of childbirth (FOC), birth experience, and postpartum mother-child-bonding, and the potential mediator role of the birth experience.

Design: Women from the prospective cohort study DREAM completed questionnaires during pregnancy, 8 weeks, and 14 months after the birth.

Participants: A community sample of n = 645 pregnant women from a large city in Eastern Germany participated in the study.

Results: In a regression analysis, FOC predicted negative birth experience (β = 0.208, p < 0.001) which in turn predicted poorer mother-child-bonding both at 8 weeks (β = 0.312, p < 0.001) and 14 months postpartum (β = 0.200, p < 0.001). FOC also predicted mother-child-bonding at 14 months postpartum (β = 0.098, p < 0.05). Of note, this association was mediated by birth experience both at 8 weeks, indirect effect ab = 0.065, 95% CI [0.036, 0.098], and 14 months postpartum, indirect effect ab = 0.043, 95% CI [0.023, 0.067]. These effects remained stable even when adjusting for potential confounders.

Key conclusions: This study suggests that the association between FOC and mother-child-bonding is mediated by birth experience, pointing to the importance of a woman's positive subjective experience.

Implications for practice: Findings reveal two targets for peripartum interventions for women at risk for poor mother-child-bonding, namely the implementation of FOC screenings during pregnancy, and birth experience as mediating factor between FOC and mother-child-bonding. Focusing on the mother's subjective birth experience could aid to identify women at risk for impaired bonding who might need additional support.

Keywords: DREAM study; childbirth experience; fear of childbirth; mediation analysis; mother-child-bonding; pregnancy.