Poster #65 - Unintended Pregnancy and Maternal Stress over the First Year of Motherhood

• In Event: Poster Session 02

Abstract

Background: Extant research finds that the intention to become pregnant is related to maternal perinatal behaviors and neonatal outcomes (McCrory et al., 2013, Cheng et al., 2009). However, less focus has been placed on the relationship between pregnancy intention and maternal wellbeing after birth, especially the stress of parenting. Using longitudinal data from pregnancy through 1-year post-partum, this study explores how pregnancy intention relates to new mothers’ parenting stress, globally and specifically related to parent-child interactions. Because low-income parents often experience greater economic insecurity following the birth of a child, and public assistance programs can help alleviate some of this economic insecurity (Stanczyk, 2020), we explore whether public assistance moderates the relationship between pregnancy intention and parenting stress.

Methods: Low-income, ethnically diverse women were recruited in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and followed through their first year of motherhood as part of a 3-group randomized educational parenting intervention. Data was collected from first-time mothers during home visits, starting in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy. During pregnancy, women were asked about whether the pregnancy was planned and if they were receiving public assistance. Maternal stress was measured with the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) Short Form when children were 12 months. Multivariate Linear Regression was used to assess the relationship between pregnancy intention (planned or unplanned) and parenting stress (total stress and 4 subscales: defensive responding, parental distress, parent-child dysfunction, and difficult child). Maternal demographic information, including race/ethnicity, highest education level completed, and intervention group were used as control variables.

Results: The majority of the sample (80%) did not plan their pregnancy and unintended pregnancy was associated with higher total maternal stress (p=<.001) as well as higher stress in each of the 4 subcategories (p=<.001, p=.001, p=.019, p=<.001). For mothers who did not plan their pregnancy, receiving public assistance during the prenatal period was associated with significantly less total parenting stress (p=.012), as well as lower scores in the defensive responding (p=.004), maternal distress (p=.013), and difficult child (p=.039) subscales. Conversely, mothers who did plan their pregnancy and were receiving public assistance reported higher stress than those who were not receiving public assistance.

Conclusion: Unintended pregnancy is associated with higher stress for new mothers 12 months postpartum. Though related to all 4 subscales of the PSI, pregnancy intention was most closely associated with parent-child dysfunction and maternal perception of the child as difficult. These findings suggest that unintended pregnancies impact maternal well-being, specifically feelings of stress around parenting in general and how mothers’ perceive their interactions with their child. Importantly, receiving public assistance was related to less maternal stress following an unintended pregnancy, highlighting the importance of financial support for new mothers and how early (prenatal) investment can support maternal wellbeing later.

Group Authors

Stephanie M Reich, Ph.D.

Authors

• Elisabeth McCallum, University of California - Irvine
  Presenting Author

• Stephanie M Reich, University of California - Irvine