The relationship between traumatic birth perception and mother-infant bonding of women who had emergency and planned caesarean sections

Abstract This study aimed to determine the relationship between traumatic birth perception and mother-infant bonding in women who had emergency and planned caesarean. This was a descriptive, single-centre cross-sectional study conducted between January 20 and May 15, 2024, among puerperal women within the first month after birth at a university hospital. The study was completed with 182 women, 86 in the emergency caesarean group and 96 in the planned caesarean group. Approval from the ethics committee and the relevant institution was obtained before starting the study. Data were collected using a personal information form to determine the socio-demographic and descriptive characteristics of women, the “Traumatic Childbirth Perception Scale (TCPS)” and the “Mother to Infant Bonding Scale (MIBS)”. Of the women who had emergency caesarean section, 37.2% had a university degree or higher, 74.4% were unemployed, 51.2% had an unplanned pregnancy and 73.3% perceived their last birth experience as negative. Of those who had planned caesarean, 32.3% had primary school degrees, 67.7% were unemployed, 60.4% had an unplanned pregnancy and 70.8% evaluated their last birth experience as positive. A statistically significant difference was found between the mean TCPS scores of women who had emergency (X̄ = 71.74 ± 23.70) and planned (X̄ = 64.34 ± 18.63) caesarean sections (mean difference = 7.31, 95% CI: 1.10–13.51; p = 0.021). No statistically significant difference was found between the emergency and planned caesarean status of women and the median MIBS scores ( p = 0.204). A negative moderately significant correlation was found between the total TCPS score and the total MIBS score of women who had planned caesarean (rₛ = − 0.417, 95% CI: − 0.585 to − 0.221; p < 0.001). The perception of traumatic birth in women who had emergency caesarean was higher than that of women who had planned caesarean. Among women who underwent planned caesarean sections, higher traumatic childbirth perception was associated with lower MIBS scores, corresponding to fewer reported mother–infant bonding difficulties.