Examining the Attachment Behavior and Anxiety Levels of Mothers Who Have Infants with Infertility Treatment and Mothers Who Have Infants without the Treatment

Abstract

Infertility treatment includes medical follow-up, hormone therapy and in vitro fertilization methods, and also it is a process that is bothersome for couples in both economic and emotional terms. Intensive infertility treatment may exacerbate the risk factors and make it difficult to switch to parenting process. Therefore, it is aimed to compare the levels of attachment and anxiety of mothers having infants of with infertility treatment and of mothers having child with spontaneous pregnancy. 103 women who became mothers through infertility treatment and spontaneously pregnancy were included in the study. Personal Information Form which is developed by researchers, Maternal Attachment Inventory and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory have been used in the study. SPSS 20.0 statistical program is used in the analysis of the data. In the study, it was found that mothers who had a baby with infertility treatment (in vitro fertilization treatment) had significantly higher maternal attachment than mothers who had a baby without any treatment (p<0,05). In addition, it was also concluded that there were negative and moderate (r=-0,423, p<0,01) relationships between maternal attachment and trait anxiety of mothers who had a baby with infertility treatment and positive and low (r=0,320, p<0,05) relationships between maternal attachment and state anxiety mothers who had a baby with spontaneous pregnancy. As the study is cross-sectional and the sample group is small, it constitutes the limitations of the study; large sample and longitudinal studies are needed. As a result, it is thought that women who became pregnant through treatment need professional support during the treatment process and during their pregnancies.