Nature and Determinants of Parent-to-Infant Attachment in the Early Postnatal Period

The present findings, and those of others, suggest that a significant minority of parents experience an indifferent or negative first impression of their infant at birth that could potentially exert an enduring detrimental effect on parent-to-infant bonding. A model is developed for predicting the nature of the first impression using attitudes toward the unborn child that evolve during pregnancy and the parents' experience of the delivery. Empirical data from over 100 parent couples are presented that lend some support to the model. The literature on early parent-infant bonding is reviewed and appears to provide additional support for the validity of this approach.