Background and purpose: Nausea and vomiting occur in 50-90% of pregnancies. Maternal-fetal attachment plays an important role in accepting maternal identity, the desired outcome of pregnancy, and the growth of child. This research was done to determine the relationship between pregnancy nausea and vomiting with maternal-fetal attachment.
Materials and methods: This Cross sectional study was carried out in 432 pregnant women at 13-20 weeks gestational age attending health care centers in Ahwaz, Iran 2016. Data was collected using the Rhodes Index of Nausea, Vomiting and Retching and the Cranley's Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale. Data analysis was done applying independent t-test and Chi-square test in SPSS 20.
Results: In this study, the mean score for maternal-fetal attachment in women with nausea and vomiting was higher (91.38±12.122) than those without nausea (89.70±11.56) which showed no significant difference between the two groups (P= 0.141). But, there was a significant difference between the two groups in the scores for attributing characteristics to fetus 19.96±4.17 (P=0.17) and mother's self-sacrifice 20.33±2.75 (P= 0.38).
Conclusion: Nausea and vomiting during pregnancy did not show any significant association with the overall score for maternal-fetal attachment, but the aspects of maternal-fetal attachment indicated a significant association with pregnancy nausea and vomiting. Women who had more pregnancy nausea and vomiting had lower self-sacrifice and higher rate of attributing characteristics to fetus.