Maternal Attachment Behavior and the Mother??s Self-Concept

Abstract

The problem was to determine the effect of skin-to-skin contact between mother and infant during the first hour following delivery on later maternal attachment behavior and self concept. Twenty primiparous women were randomly assigned skin-to-skin contact with their infant during the first hour after birth. There were no significant differences in 36-hour or three-month attachment behaviors or in prenatal or three month self-concept scores. For most mothers, first time motherhood appeared to have a positive effect on their self-concepts.