Identification of Components related to Mother-Infant Relationship to Prevent Postpartum Depression: A Qualitative Study

Postpartum depression is the most common psychological complication after childbirth. The mother-infant relationship and its challenges are one of the most critical risk factors of postpartum depression. Given the importance of attachment theory in explaining the mother-infant relationship, the present study aimed to identify the components related to mother-infant relationship in order to prevent postpartum depression.

This study was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, based on the qualitative method and inductive content analysis approach, individual interviews were conducted with four groups of pregnant mothers (n=6), mothers with infants (n=5), pediatricians (n​​=3), and psychologists (n=3). The data were coded and extracted. During the second stage, the relevant literature in the field of attachment was reviewed using desk research, whereby the components were extracted. Finally, based on the findings of these two stages, themes related to the mother-infant relationship were identified.

The most important overlapping themes obtained from the two stages of the study included attachment to the fetus, anxiety during pregnancy and postpartum, child care, reception of support, and the impact of the relationship with parents which were identified as the main themes related with the mother-infant relationship.

Considering the importance of mother-infant relationship as a postpartum depression risk factor, the present study strived to identify the main components of this relationship from the perspective of research literature, along with a qualitative study, to identify the real needs of mothers to be used as a basis for subsequent interventions.