Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Nadine M. Lukes-Dyer

Abstract

AbstractChildbirth has been increasingly viewed as a potentially traumatic event and process impacting both mother and infant. Previous research on childbirth has concentrated on the development of postpartum depression and its impact; research on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after childbirth has been limited. However, the results of this research study suggested that the development of childbirth-related PTSD may be a far more common phenomenon than previously suggested. Bowlby’s attachment theory and Ainsworth’s further development and expansion of the theory served as a framework which investigated the experiences of 10 biological females, aged 21 and over previously diagnosed with PTSD after childbirth, and their perceptions of mother-child bonding. Data for this study were collected from recorded and transcribed interviews. The Colaizzi method and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) were used to analyze the recorded interview transcriptions. The results provided rich, descriptive narratives from which common and unanticipated themes emerged. The themes were then grouped into a logical framework that demonstrates the transition from coded data to themes and clusters of themes and their interrelatedness. The results suggested that childbirth-related PTSD played a role in the mother-child bonding. Implications for positive social change arose from this research in the form of creating an opportunity to increase awareness of the influence of childbirth-related PTSD on maternal bonding.

Download

Share

 
COinS