Becoming a parent
Authors:   , Holopainen Annaleena 
Published: May 2024

Giving birth and becoming a parent is a physical and psychological process that builds upon one’s previous life experiences. For instance, earlier life-events may be related to how a woman experiences her childbirth (Beck & Casavant, 2019), while a woman’s birth experience may impact her mental health and parenthood (Beck, 2011; Carter et al., 2022; McKelvin et al., 2021; Sun et al., 2021). A sizable minority of women experience their childbirth as negative (Hosseini Tabaghdehi et al., 2020) or even traumatic (Chabbert et al., 2021). Currently, studies report contradicting findings regarding the potential risk factors for a negative childbirth experience and the consequences thereof (McKelvin et al., 2021). As following on the contradictory findings, we still cannot claim a comprehensive understanding of predictors that may be present already before pregnancy, as well as of long-term effects on parenting behaviour and the development of the parent-child relationship. This dissertation aims at contributing to this gap by using longitudinal multi-method data (i.e., self-report, interview, observation) to investigate the potential antecedents and sequelae of negative birth experiences.

Chapters 2 and 3 report on the associations between childhood experiences and birth experience, as well as the associations of previous traumatic birth, fear of childbirth and coping behaviour during the subsequent pregnancy with the subsequent childbirth experience. Neither childhood trauma nor attachment state of mind were found to be statistically associated with one’s childbirth experience. After a previous traumatic childbirth experience, neither characteristics in the previous birth nor fear of childbirth in the subsequent pregnancy were related to the subsequent birth experience. Of various ways to prepare and cope during the subsequent pregnancy, and decisions made regarding care during the subsequent pregnancy and birth, making a birth plan, choosing for a planned c-section or choosing for a home birth were associated with a more positive subsequent birth experience.

Chapters 4 and 5 report on the associations of pregnancy and childbirth experience with observed maternal sensitivity and disruptive maternal behaviour, and on the associations of childbirth experience with parenting stress and child attachment. Childbirth experience was not found to be associated with observed maternal sensitivity, disruptive maternal behaviour, nor child attachment. Negative birth experience was found to relate to higher levels of maternal and paternal parenting stress.

Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic coincided with the completion of this dissertation. Many parents experienced an increase in stress during the pandemic (Adams et al., 2021; Calvano et al., 2022), which in combination with pre-existing ongoing parenting stress might have increased the risk of parental burnout. Chapter 6 reports on the associations of longitudinal parenting stress and social support with parental burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mothers’ stable levels of parenting stress and lower social support, were found to be associated with parental burnout symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.