Building Relationships: Connecting With Baby During Pregnancy

Abstract

Pregnancy marks the beginning of a lifelong connection between women and birthing people and their babies. It’s a common misconception that maternal/infant bonding begins the moment the baby is born; for many, the rush of love felt at the point of birth, is a culmination of feelings – emotional attachment steadily developed during pregnancy. The notion of bonding during pregnancy has been studied for many years and the relationship between a woman and her unborn baby is often described as maternal-fetal attachment (MFA) by researchers.1