Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology最新文献

Background: Birth satisfaction shapes family well-being, yet partners' experiences remain under-researched. A Hebrew BSS-R exists for mothers, but no validated partner instrument has been available in Israel. We examined the validity and reliability of a Hebrew Partner BSS-R (HP-BSS-R).

Methods: A psychometric validation study was conducted with 250 Hebrew-speaking partners of birthing women in Israel. Data were collected online via a self-administered questionnaire completed, on average, 23.87 months after childbirth (SD 17.46). Participants completed the HP-BSS-R and provided obstetric and demographic information (age, number of children, term status, mode of birth, and labour duration). Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to examine the scale's dimensional structure and assess its goodness of fit. Convergent, divergent, and known-groups discriminant validity were assessed, alongside internal consistency reliability. The HP-BSS-R was also evaluated against previously established BSS-R versions.

Results: A nine-item measurement model of the HP-BSS-R demonstrated excellent model fit, notably under a bifactor structure. Convergent validity was supported by correlation patterns comparable to other BSS-R versions. While the Stress Experienced subscale showed suboptimal internal consistency (α = 0.53), the Partner's Attributes and Quality of Care subscales, as well as the total score, demonstrated acceptable reliability. The scale also showed strong known-groups discriminant validity.

Conclusions: The HP-BSS-R demonstrates strong psychometric properties for assessing post-event birth satisfaction among partners in Israel. This validated tool provides a valuable resource for understanding partners' childbirth experiences, facilitating more comprehensive family-centred care, and informing targeted interventions to improve overall birth satisfaction.

Aims: This study aimed to develop and validate an instrument to assess gay fathers' beliefs about socialising their children conceived through surrogacy.

Background: As societal norms evolve and reproductive technologies advance, more gay men are starting families through surrogacy. Research is limited on the unique socialisation beliefs of these fathers, particularly concerning surrogacy and societal perceptions.

Methods: Participants were 208 gay fathers from 104 families in Italy, Israel, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Fathers completed a survey with six adapted items from the Sexual Minority Parent Socialisation Beliefs Scale, together with measures of stigma experiences and sense of belonging to the gay community. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses tested the factor structure and reliability. Convergent validity, as well as differences between countries and other demographic variables, were examined.

Results: A two-factor structure was identified: Coping with moral and ethical comments (coping beliefs) and Interaction with other surrogacy families (interaction beliefs). Both subscales demonstrated good internal consistency. Convergent validity was partially confirmed: coping beliefs were significantly associated with stigma experiences, while interaction beliefs were positively related to sense of community belonging. Country differences were found only for Coping with moral and ethical comments, with Belgian fathers scoring higher than fathers in Italy, Israel, and the Netherlands. Coping beliefs increased with child age, while interaction beliefs were stronger among fathers who pursued gestational surrogacy. Marital status and child's sex showed no significant effects.

Conclusion: The instrument provides a validated tool to advance research and interventions supporting resilience in gay father families via surrogacy.

Background/aims: Termination of pregnancy for foetal anomaly (TOPFA) is a complex emotional journey characterised by different emotional responses. Parents may go through a period of grief and mourning after a perinatal loss, and their reaction can have a lasting effect and influence subsequent reproductive decisions.

Design/methods: We explored how reproductive decisions after TOPFA are made and how a rainbow pregnancy, a pregnancy after perinatal loss, is experienced by men and women. The objective was two-fold: first, to understand the prospective perceptions of participants following TOPFA, who still desire a pregnancy; and second, to analyse the retrospective perceptions of participants who successfully fulfilled their child wish. This study used a generic qualitative descriptive approach to understand the impact of TOPFA on reproductive decisions. In total, 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents who experienced TOPFA between 15 and 33 weeks of gestation due to an unknown aetiology.

Results: The emotional longing for a child was persistent. Although the decision-making process became more complex. Choosing for a subsequent pregnancy was no longer a carefree decision nor experience. Participants with an active desire to have children after TOPFA kept on searching for a positive experience. While those who fulfilled their desire to have children, still mentioned a continuing grieving process and a search for answers.

Conclusion: Reproductive decisions and the experience of a rainbow pregnancy after TOPFA are marked by previous existential perinatal experiences, and the previous loss remained present. Our results suggest that a tailored medical and psychosocial follow-up of pregnancies after TOPFA is crucial.

Aims and background: The subjective childbirth experience is crucial for a woman's well-being. This study examines the relationship between 'birthing consciousness' - a flow-like state of hyperfocus, self-efficacy, and calm - and birth outcomes, including subjective experience, labour duration, and postpartum mental health.

Methods: Data were collected prospectively from a cohort of birthing women (January-September 2023) at Ziv Medical Center, Israel. Women planning a vaginal birth (N = 138) completed surveys at three time points: Antenatal: During antenatal care at 34-41 weeks' gestation; Postpartum: 72 hours postpartum, assessing flow state using the Flow State Scale (FSS); Postpartum: 8 weeks postpartum, assessing mental health using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21). Pregnancy and birth details, including demographic variables and birth stage durations, were obtained from electronic medical records.

Results: Higher flow was associated with shorter labour ;(Stage 2: r =  -0.316, p = .002, n = 98; Stage 3: r =  -0.302, p = .002, n = 98) and lower postpartum stress ;(r =  -0.451, p < .001, n = 93). Women reporting a positive birth experience had higher flow than those reporting a negative experience (Welch's t = 4.00, p < .001; Cohen's d = 1.25; n = 83). In logistic regression, higher flow increased the odds of a positive birth experience (OR = 1.02 per point, 95% CI [1.00-1.05], p = .043).

Conclusions: Experiencing flow can enhance the childbirth experience and shorten birth's critical stages. These findings highlight the significance of attending to a woman's mental state during labour to optimise her health outcomes.

Background: Brain development during the prenatal period and early infancy is critical and highly sensitive to sensory experiences, which can be disrupted by preterm birth. Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) emerged as a humanised alternative to conventional neonatal care, promoting thermal regulation, breastfeeding, and mother-infant bonding. While its short-term benefits are well documented, evidence on long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes remains limited. In this review, long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes were defined as those assessed after six months of corrected age. This study aims to synthesise and critically appraise the existing evidence on the long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes of KMC in preterm and/or low birth weight (PT/LBW) infants.

Methods: A scoping review was conducted using the PubMed, Embase, Virtual Health Library, and SciELO databases. Articles published in English, Portuguese, or Spanish between January 2014 and March 2025 were included, based on predefined eligibility and methodological quality criteria.

Results: The search identified 2,380 articles, of which 12 were selected. The analysis grouped the articles into six categories of neurodevelopmental outcomes: cognitive, motor, socioemotional, and language development, as well as brain volume and brain activity. These outcomes were heterogeneously affected by KMC exposure. All evaluated domains demonstrated long-term benefits associated with KMC, with positive impacts observed in both behavioural outcomes and brain structure and function.

Conclusion: These findings highlighted the need to consider moderating and contextual factors involved in infant neurodevelopmental outcomes. In line with recent scientific literature, this review suggests that KMC is a promising intervention for improving long-term developmental outcomes in preterm and/or low birth weight infants.

Aims/background: Childbirth evokes a mix of emotions, including happiness, fear, and pain, shaped by biological, cognitive, and emotional factors. This study examines how pain expectation, catastrophizing, and self-compassion impact the experience and recall of labour pain.

Methods: Seventy-six pregnant women completed the numeric pain scale (NS) in three different moments: the expected pain (EP) before delivery, the maximum pain experienced during delivery, actual pain (AP), and the retrospective pain (RP) after delivery. Additionally, scales measuring catastrophizing (PCS) and self-compassion (SELFCS) were administered.

Results: We observed that EP exceeded AP (z = -2.684, p = 0.007) and RP (z = -4.556, p < 0.001). Positive correlations were observed between EP and AP (r = 0.385, p = 0.001) and EP and RP (r = 0.237, p = 0.044), highlighting the impact of expectations on pain perception during labour and its recall. Catastrophizing (p = 0.041) and a lower number of pregnancies (p = 0.014) were significant predictors of severe pain, whereas self-compassion did not significantly correlate with pain measures. High pain expectations may contribute to actual pain levels during labour, particularly with induced labour.

Conclusion: Many women experience persistent pain post-childbirth, highlighting the need for tailored interventions to manage expectations and provide effective coping strategies. This study underscores the need to address pain expectations in antenatal care and target catastrophizing tendencies to improve the labour pain experience and prevent chronic postpartum pain. Larger studies are needed to validate these results and inform the development of effective interventions, ultimately enhancing maternal well-being during and after childbirth.

Background: Pregnancy to postpartum is a critical transition period for changes in mental health, including disordered eating habits and body image concerns. In order to understand why some people experience new or worsening eating disorder symptoms during this period, it is important to gather insights from individuals with recent lived experience of pregnancy. Lived experience is also valuable for informing how to best address eating disorder concerns in obstetric healthcare settings.

Methods: Women around eight weeks postpartum (N = 175) completed surveys that included open-ended questions about eating habits, body-related self-perception, and healthcare experiences during the peripartum period. These responses were coded using structured tabular thematic analysis to identify common themes.

Results: About 45% and 25% of participants in our sample endorsed self-critical responses to changes in body shape/weight and eating habits, respectively. Smaller proportions of the sample endorsed acceptance of or empowerment from physical changes. Factors that impacted how individuals responded to physical changes included expectations, social factors, physiological factors, and stage of pregnancy. Commonly endorsed suggestions for healthcare providers included reduced weight-focused judgement and increased nutritional guidance.

Conclusion: Identified themes provide insight into what factors may contribute to risk for unhelpful changes in eating habits and body image concerns during pregnancy and postpartum. Future research should quantitatively explore these themes and their relation to postpartum mental and physical health outcomes. This research highlights the importance of incorporating lived experience into discussions of peripartum mental health and obstetric healthcare.

Aims/background: Parents of multiples (twins, triplets+) have elevated postpartum mental health risks. About half of such parents desire postpartum mental health treatment, but only a minority receive care. We examined the feasibility and acceptability of Be A Mom - a self-guided web-based postpartum mental health intervention - in mothers of multiples (MoMs).

Design/methods: Thirty-seven women who gave birth to their first set of multiples in the past year were recruited on Portuguese-language postpartum support websites on social media. Participants completed baseline measures and were granted access to the Be A Mom platform for 8 weeks. They then answered questions evaluating feasibility and acceptability and provided feedback via brief, semi-structured interviews.

Results: Of 26 participants who completed baseline measures, 8 (30.77%) used Be A Mom. One completed all five modules. Seven completed some content. The median number of completed modules was 1.50 (30%). Participants logged into the platform a median of 6 times, spending 27.50 min on Be A Mom. Lack of time was universally endorsed as a barrier to greater engagement; participants suggested more audio-only content as a solution. Overall perceived quality was high (3.25/4). Acceptability was good, particularly for enjoyment, credibility, learning, worthiness, utility, and relevance. Participants suggested adding multiples-specific content.

Conclusion: With adaptations, Be a Mom has promise as a feasible, acceptable, and accessible way to support MoMs' postpartum mental health. Future work should use a larger sample of new MoMs to test the effects of a tailored version of the intervention on depression, anxiety, stress, and well-being.

Aims/background: The present study aims to address the limitations of previous Spanish validation studies of the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ), including limited diagnostic range and clinical severity, and inconsistent factor structures. Specifically, the aim of this further validation is twofold: to evaluate the factor structure of the PBQ in a sample of Spanish mothers to determine a replicable structure, and to validate the Spanish version of both the full PBQ (25 items) and a reduced 14-item version (PBQ14), in a sample of mothers with and without bonding disorders, including a broader range of bonding issues and more severe cases than in previous Spanish validations.

Design/methods: Data were collected from two independent samples of mothers. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on a sample of 364 mothers to assess the validity of previously proposed PBQ factor structures. Additionally, criterion validity was evaluated in a sample of 162 mothers by comparing PBQ scores with bonding disorder diagnoses obtained through the Stafford Interview.

Results: The findings confirm the validity of both the 25-item Spanish version (PBQ25) and the 14-item Japanese version (PBQ14) within the Spanish population. In the second sample, optimal total score cut-off points were identified: 19 or higher for the PBQ25 and 14 or higher for the PBQ14.

Conclusion: This study further validates the Spanish version of the PBQ, confirming the factorial validity of the PBQ25 and proposing the PBQ14 as a short, versatile, and clinically useful screening tool for detecting mother-infant bonding disorders in the Spanish population.