Does parental mental health mediate the association between parents' perceived stress and parent-infant bonding during the early COVID-19 pandemic?

Background: The spread of the COVID-19 virus was declared a pandemic in March 2020. New restrictions such as 'lockdowns' and 'social distancing' created challenges for individuals' work-life balance, financial situation, family life, and physical and mental health. The global population's stress levels rose in response to these changes, leading to a widespread deterioration of mental health.

Does a mother's childbirth experience influence her perceptions of her baby's behaviour? A qualitative interview study.

Background: Childbirth has become increasingly medicalised, which may impact on the mother's birth experience and her newborn infant's physiology and behaviour. Although associations have been found between a mother's subjective birth experience and her baby's temperament, there is limited qualitative evidence around how and why this may occur.

Objectives: This qualitative study aimed to explore mothers' childbirth and postnatal experiences, perceptions of their baby's early behavioural style, and whether they saw these as related.

Physical and Psychological Childbirth Experiences and Early Infant Temperament.

Objective: To examine how physical and psychological childbirth experiences affect maternal perceptions and experiences of early infant behavioural style (temperament).

Background: Unnecessary interventions may disturb the normal progression of physiological childbirth and instinctive neonatal behaviours that facilitate mother-infant bonding and breastfeeding. While little is known about how a medicalised birth may influence developing infant temperament, high impact interventions which affect neonatal crying and cortisol levels could have longer term consequences for infant behaviour and functioning.