The effect of mothers’ perception of birth on separation anxiety

Background: Due to the mother's perception of birth, birth can be considered the first separation between mother and baby. Determining the effect of birth perception on separation anxiety is important especially in terms of breastfeeding, mother and baby mental health, and attachment.MethodsThis descriptive and correlational study was conducted with 305 women admitted between the 7th day and 6th week postpartum. The data were collected with the Introductory Information Form, Perception of Birth Scale and Adult Separation Anxiety Scale.ResultsThe mean age of the participants was 29.09 ± 6.48 years. Separation anxiety was found to be significantly negatively correlated with the total score of the perception of birth scale at a moderate level (r = -0.43, p ≤ 0.001). It was found that the dimension of experiences during the pain period of birth (β = -0.32, t = -4.25, p < 0.001) and the dimension of spousal involvement (β = -0.12, t = -0.22, p < 0.05) negatively predicted adult separation anxiety.ConclusionsIt was found that as the level of mothers’ positive perception of birth increased, the level of adult separation anxiety decreased.