Impact of hyperbilirubinaemia and transient mother-child separation in the neonatal period on mother-child attachment in the 1st year of life.

Hyperbilirubinaemia (HyB) is the most common health disturbance in the neonatal period. The aim of this prospective study is to determine whether HyB and/or phototherapy (PhT) together with transient separation during the neonatal period are associated with impaired mother-child attachment after the 1st year of life. We divided 107 healthy term infants into three groups: 29 markedly icteric infants who underwent PhT (mother-child separation), 40 mildly icteric infants without PhT and a control group of 38 nonicteric infants. At the age of 1 year a paediatric examination and a Denver test were performed, and the mother-infants pairs were observed in Ainsworth's strange situation. The results show a similar distribution of the attachment patterns in the three different groups of infants. HyB and PhT do not negatively seem to affect the quality of attachment. Analysis of additional aspects showed that maternal coping and her perception of the child appear to be more important antecedents of the quality of attachment after the 1st year of life.