Abstract:
This descriptive research was designed to explore spousal support and
maternal-fetal attachment of pregnant industrial workers and to examine the variance
in maternal-fetal attachment explained by maternal age, family income, gestational
age, planning of pregnancy and spousal support in these women. The study sample
consisted of 100 pregnant industrial workers who were primigravidarum, 20-40 weeks
of gestational age, lived with spouse and were attending antenatal care at a private
clinic in Pranakornsriayutthaya District, Pranakornsriayutthaya Province, Thailand.
Subjects were selected by convenience sampling. Three questionnaires including the
Demographic Data Questionnaire, the Spousal Support Questionnaire and the
Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale were used to collect data. The data were analyzed
by using descriptive statistics, Pearson Product Moment Correlation, and multiple
regression analysis.
The results of the study revealed that pregnant industrial workers had a rather
high spousal support (M = 79.41, SD = 16.04) and maternal-fetal attachment (M =
94.55, SD = 18.16). Spousal support and gestational age were the only two significant
predictors which could explain 25 percent of the variance in maternal-fetal attachment
scores (p<.001)
According to the findings of this study, it is suggested that nurses should
screen pregnant industrial workers who are at risk for poor spousal support. Then,
nurses should generate a program to enhance spousal support in order to promote
maternal-fetal attachment.