Trait anxiety, negative emotions, and the mothers' adaptation to an infant born subsequent to late pregnancy loss: a case-control study.

Women with (n = 27) a history of late pregnancy loss (> or = 20 weeks) due to congenital anomalies who had completed the subsequent pregnancy with a live-birth were compared with a group of mothers with newborns without such a history (n = 29) at 4 and 16 weeks post-partum. The following aspects were assessed; depression, anxiety, psychological distress, and mother-infant adaptation. The women with a previous pregnancy loss showed significantly more negative emotions than the women without such a history. In addition, they considered that their healthy baby experienced more problems with sleeping, crying, eating, and acquiring a regular pattern of this behaviour than the average baby. They also perceived their baby as being less ideal than the women without a previous pregnancy loss. These problems were particularly present 4 weeks post-partum and were significantly positively related to trait anxiety. The implications of this study are that in women with a history of late pregnancy loss, family physicians and welfare officers should be made aware of possible problems in the mother and in mother-infant adaptation shortly after a normal live-birth, particularly in those with high trait anxiety. They will then be able to arrange psychological support at an early stage.