TRAIT ANXIETY, NEGATIVE EMOTIONS, AND THE MOTHERS ADAPTATION TO AN INFANT BORN SUBSEQUENT TO LATE PREGNANCY LOSS - A CASE-CONTROL STUDY

Women with (n=27) a history of late pregnancy loss(greater than or equ al to 20 weeks) due to congenital anomalies who had completed the subs equent pregnancy with a live-birth were compared with a group of mothe rs with newborns without such a history (n=29) at 4 and 16 weeks post- partum. The following aspects were assessed: depression, anxiety, psyc hological distress, and mother-infant adaptation. The women with a pre vious pregnancy loss showed significantly more negative emotions than the women without such a history. In addition, they considered that th eir healthy baby experienced more problems with sleeping, crying, eati ng, and acquiring a regular pattern of this behaviour than the average baby. They also perceived their baby as being less ideal than the wom en without a previous pregnancy loss. These problems were particularly present 4 weeks post-partum and were significantly positively related to trait anxiety. The implications of this study are that in women wi th a history of late pregnancy loss, family physicians and welfare off icers should be made aware of possible problems in the mother and in m other-infant adaptation shortly after a normal live-birth, particularl y in those with high trail anxiety. They will then be able to arrange psychological support at an early stage. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons , Ltd.