| Description |
Baseline descriptive data were obtained on 35 women who were subjected to infant separation for a period not less than 6 days and not more than 15 days following delivery. The design of the study was to obtain descriptive and demographic data, document recent life changes as reported by the subject before, during, and after her pregnancy, and to procure a general personality measurement of self-actualization. These data were obtained to provide another dimension to the understanding of factors which might influence the maternal-infant relationship. Information for the study was obtained by interviewing each subject. Three questionnaires were administered to the subjects. One was a measure of self-actualization, the Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) by Shostrom (1963); the second measure of recent life changes experienced by the subject, the Schedule of Recent Experience (SRE) by Holmes and Rahe (1967); and the third personal data sheet. Total time for each interview was approximately 90 minutes. Correlation analysis of the data collected identified factors which correlated significantly with the SRE and POI. Pearson correlation coefficient indicated that scales of the POI correlated highly with each other as was expected. The only other variable having numerous correlations with the POI was the mother's continued intention to breast feed. Scakes from the POI correlating with breast feeding were; Inner directed Self-Acceptance, Existentiality, and Capacity for Intimate Contact. The SRE correlated with eight variables which included: mother's age and education, duration of physical problem in pregnancy, full-term births, intention to breast feed, and three scales from the POI (Feeling Reactivity, Acceptance of Aggression, and Capacity for Intimate Contact). Due to its descriptive nature no conclusions could be made from the information gathered. Several conditions arose, however, which could influence or reflect the maternal-infant relationship. These include: whether or not the pregnancy was planned; the number and extent of physical ailments experienced by the mother during the pregnancy; whether the mother is breast or bottle feeding her infant; the number of times she visited her infant; and the number of telephone calls she made to the nursery to ordain information regarding her infant's condition. Understanding the implications these factors have on the maternal-infant relationship should provide a fruitful area for investigation in the future. |
