Objectives: To test the hypothesis that domestic violence has an impact on the maternal-foetal bond and the maternal-infant bond, and
to investigate any relationship between the two bonding states (taking into account post-natal depression).
Design: Case-control, unmatched, study with random cluster sampling.
Setting: Refuge shelters in Central Birmingham and Greater London (cases). City hospital (Dudley Road), Bartley Green and Longbridge
General Practices (controls).
Subjects: Women who gave birth in the year preceding the study: 11 who experienced physical or mental abuse whilst pregnant, 27 who
reported no abuse.
Measures: Severity of abuse in the cases (ASS). Degree of maternal-foetal (ADS) and maternal-infant bonding (BPNB) achieved in cases
and controls. Level of Post-Natal Depression in the cases (EPND).
Results: Mothers who were abused during pregnancy are less likely to bond well with their foetus and subsequently their child. In
non-abused mothers there is a prominent strengthening in maternal-child bonding after birth, this change is minimal in abused
women. Within the index sample significantly positive correlations were found between MFB and MIB; MFB and ASS; and MIB and
ASS scores. No such correlations were found in the control group. Abused women were more likely to suffer from post-natal
depression as compared to their non-abused counterparts, the degree of depression was not related to the severity of the abuse
experienced.
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that exposure to abuse weakens the maternal-foetal bond, possibly making it not amenable to the normal
strengthening post partum, thus diminishing the strength of the maternal-infant bond in abused mothers.
Keywords: Maternal-foetal bond; abuse; domestic violence; pregnancy; post-natal depression.