The Effect of Foetal Movement Counting on Primipara Maternal Foetal Attachment

Background and Maternal-foetal attachment (MFA) is a term which describes the relationship between a pregnant women and her foetus. Mothers with high MFA show more confidence in their new role and a better postpartum adjustment. The present study was conducted to determine the effect of counting foetal movement on maternal-foetal attachment. This interventional study was conducted on 83 pregnant women selected through purposive sampling from pregnant women admitted to health centers of Sari in 2009. Selected subjects were randomly divided into case and control groups. We used interview checklist and MFA scale GHQ questionnaire. All cases received forms to record the number of foetal movement every morning after breakfast for one month. However، controls only received the routine pregnancy care. Scores of MFA before and after intervention were compared between the two groups. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 11. The mean score for MFA، before intervention، were 3. 52  0. 5 and 3. 42  0. 43 in case and control groups respectively. After intervention the scores changed into 3. 960. 38 and 3. 420. 41 respectively which significantly diffreed between the study groups (p<0. 001). Our results indicated that simple intervention such as counting foetal movement increased the MFA value that we believe it improves the maternal-neonatal relationship affecting children’s future social، emotional and cognitive development.