Maternal behavior of hospitalized pregnant women

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Abstract
This report presents an analysis of the maternal behavior of 75 women hospitalized during pregnancy who were subjects in a prospective, descriptive, correlational study of ante-partum hospitalization. Three operational definitions of maternal behavior were measured: acceptance of pregnancy, identification with a motherhood role, and maternal-fetal attachment. Two scales from the Lederman Prenatal Self-Evaluation Questionnaire, which was administered in its complete form, and Cranley's Fetal Attachment Scale were used to operationally measure maternal behavior. When compared to women who had experienced normal pregnancies, study women scored significantly lower on the measure of acceptance of pregnancy, but no differently on the 2 other measures. Interview data regarding the women's feelings about the pregnancy and fetus generally supported the quantitative measures and also provided a more varied perspective of their maternal behavior.

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