Overview
- A nationwide analysis of 64,938 mother–child pairs in the Japan Environment and Children’s Study found mother-to-infant bonding difficulties (MIBD) in 11.6% of pairs and in 7.7% of mothers who did not have postnatal depression.
- Nearly half of all MIBD cases occurred in mothers without postnatal depression, which means many affected mothers would not be identified by standard depression screening.
- The three strongest, measurable predictors were difficulty holding a fussy or arching infant (about 3.45 times higher risk), feeling anything other than happiness when pregnancy was confirmed (about 2.42 times higher risk), and low social support.
- Anger and rejection signs were more common than lack of affection signs in responses to the Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale, and mothers reporting high social support had roughly a 55% lower risk of MIBD.
- The authors recommend clinicians watch for simple clinical signals such as trouble handling a crying baby and negative pregnancy emotions so services can offer timely support to reduce risks to child development and safety.