Comparison of Psychological Characteristics and Parental-Fetal Attachment in Wanted and Unwanted Pregnancies in Women's Clinics in Semnan City, Iran, in 2020-2021

Unwanted pregnancy can cause multiple psychological problems in parents and disrupt their emotional bond with the fetus. Therefore, in the present study, the comparison of psychological characteristics and attachment of parents to the fetus in wanted and unwanted pregnancies has been discussed.

The statistical population of the study included all pregnant women who were referred to the women's clinic of the Amir-Al-Momenin Hospital in Semnan, Iran, who were selected purposefully by examining their medical records and according to the inclusion criteria. They were placed in two groups of wanted and unwanted pregnancy (104 couples: 51 wanted, 53 unwanted). To collect data, personal information forms, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 Items (DASS-21), Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale (Cranley), and Paternal-Fetal Attachment Scale (Cranley & Weaver) questionnaires were used. To analyze the data, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used.

There was a significant difference between the fathers of the two groups in the subscales of “anxiety, self-sacrifice, differentiation between self and fetus, and total attachment”. In addition, mothers with wanted pregnancy had significantly less stress, anxiety, and depression. The average scores of the subscales of “attributing specific characteristics to the fetus, self-sacrifice, differentiation between self and fetus, and total attachment” in mothers with wanted pregnancies were significantly higher than those in mothers with unwanted pregnancies (P < 0.005).

According to the findings of the present study, an unwanted pregnancy can endanger the psychological conditions of parents, especially mothers, and reduce the attachment of parents to the fetus, which can cause irreparable damage to the health of the mother and child. For this purpose, appropriate psychological interventions can be used during pregnancy to reduce psychological harm to parents.