Definitions matter: if maternal–fetal relationships are not attachment, what are they?

Walsh, Judi (2010) Definitions matter: if maternal–fetal relationships are not attachment, what are they? Archives of Women's Mental Health, 13 (5). pp. 449-451. ISSN 1434-1816

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Abstract

Since Cranley's conceptualization in 1981, which produced a useful measure to investigate the construct, maternal–fetal relationships have most often been referred to as maternal–fetal, antenatal or prenatal “attachment”. However, critical analysis of the literature suggests that this relationship is not an attachment relationship at all, as Bowlby and Ainsworth first defined it, but a multi-faceted construct guided instead by the caregiving system, the reciprocal partner to the attachment system, which evolved to provide care and protection.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Psychology
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Developmental Science Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Cognition, Action and Perception Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Research on Children and Families
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	24 Jul 2015 03:15
Last Modified:	28 Mar 2025 03:11
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/53498
DOI:	10.1007/s00737-010-0152-8

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