Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Best Practice for Adolescent Prenatal Care: Application of an Attachment Theory Perspective to Enhance Prenatal Care and Diminish Birth Risks

  • Published:
Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present a best practice model for adolescent prenatal care. Increasing rates of unplanned pregnancies coupled with the highest rates of all age groups with inadequate prenatal care make this population especially vulnerable to birth risks and maternal–infant relational problems. While there is much literature on individual level variables that affect prenatal care adherence such as age, poverty, low self-esteem, and transportation, there is little practice based research knowledge on diminishing potential birth risks by repairing and building the maternal–infant (fetus) relationship prior to the actual birth of the child. Using findings from the author’s former study, practitioner experience, and a review of evidence based literature, the article presents an innovative attachment theory based prenatal care model for social work practitioners and other health care professionals working with pregnant adolescents.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ainsworth, M. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E. D., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment assessed in the Strange Situation and at home. New Jersey: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Academy of Pediatrics and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (2007). Guidelines for perinatal care (6th ed.). Evanston: Author.

  • Ammaniti, M., Nicolais, G., & Speranza, A. M. (2007). Attachment and sexuality during adolescence: Interaction, integration, or interference. In D. Diamond, S. J. Blatt, & J. D. Lichternberg (Eds.), Attachment & sexuality (pp. 79–105). NY: The Analytic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2008). Kids count data book. Baltimore: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2009). Kids count data book. Baltimore: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, H. N., Moran, G., & Pederson, D. R. (2007). Childhood maltreatment, complex trauma symptoms, and unresolved attachment in an at-risk sample of adolescent mothers. Attachment & Human Development, 9(2), 139–161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., van Ijzendoorn, J., & Juffer, F. (2003). Less is more: Meta-analyses of sensitivity and attachment interventions in early childhood. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 195–215.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barot, S. (2009, Winter). Reclaiming the lead: Restoring U.S. leadership in global sexual and reproductive health policy. Guttmacher Policy Review, 12(1). Retrieved April 14, 2009, from http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/gpr120112.html

  • Bartels, A., & Zeki, S. (2004). The neural correlates of maternal and romantic love. NeuroImage, 21, 1156–1166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belsky, J. (1999). Model evolutionary theory and patterns of attachment. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research and clinical applications (pp. 141–161). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bettmann, J. E., & Jasperson, R. A. (2010). Anxiety in adolescence: Integration of attachment and neurobiological research into clinical practice. Clinical Social Work, 38, 98–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bielawska-Batorowicz, E., & Siddiqui, A. (2008). A study of prenatal attachment with Swedish and Polish expectant mothers. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 26(4), 373–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Black, M. M., Bentley, M. E., Papas, M. A., Oberlander, S., Teti, L. O., McNary, S., et al. (2006). Delaying second births among adolescent mothers: A randomized, controlled trial of a home-based mentoring program. Pediatrics, 118(4), 1087–1099.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: attachment (Vol. 1). New York: Basic Books, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss: Loss, sadness and depression (Vol. 3). New York: Basic Books, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowlby, J. (1988). Attachment theory: Retrospect and prospect. Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1–2), 3–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Child Trends. (2007a, May). The consequences of unintended childbearing: A white paper. Retrieved December 22, 2008, from http://www.childtrends.org

  • Child Trends. (2007b, Winter). Late or no prenatal care. Retrieved October 24, 2008, from http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/indicators/25PrenatalCare.cfm

  • Coffman, S., Levitt, M. J., & Brown, L. (1994). Effects of clarification of support expectations in prenatal couples. Nursing Research, 43(2), 111–116.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coffman, S., Levitt, M. J., & Guacci-Franco, N. (1995). Infant-mother attachment: Relationships to maternal responsiveness and infant temperament. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 10(1), 9–17.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Condon, J. T. (1993). The assessment of antenatal emotional attachment: Developments of a questionnaire instrument. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 66, 167–183.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, M. L., Shaver, P. R., & Collins, N. L. (1998). Attachment styles, emotion regulation, and adjustment in adolescence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1380–1397.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Deutch, H. (1945). The psychology of women. New York: Grune & Stratton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, D., Blatt, S. J., & Lichtenberg, J. D. (2007). Attachment and sexuality. New York: The Analytic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feldman, J. B. (2007). The effect of support expectations on prenatal attachment: An evidence- based approach for intervention in an adolescent population. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 24(3), 209–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feldman, J. B., & Pittman, S. (2008). Adolescent pregnancy along the Texas–Mexico border: A systematic analysis of risk and resiliency in a Mexican-American population. Social Perspectives, 10(1), 29–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finer, L. B., & Henshaw, S. K. (2006). Disparities in rates of unintended pregnancy in the United States, 1994 and 2001. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 38(2), 90–96.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fraiberg, S., Adelson, E., & Shapiro, V. (1975). Ghosts in the nursery: A psychoanalytic approach to the problems of impaired infant–mother relationships. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 14(3), 397–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guilamo-Ramos, V., Dittus, P., Jaccard, J., Goldberg, V., Casillas, E., & Bouris, A. (2006). The content and process of mother–adolescent communication about sex in Latino families. Social Work Research, 30(3), 169–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guttmacher Institute. (2003). Teen pregnancy: Trends and lessons learned (Issue Brief No.1). New York: Guttmacher Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guttmacher Institute. (2006). U.S. teenage pregnancy statistics: National and state trends and trends by race and ethnicity. New York: Guttmacher Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guttmacher Institute. (2007, Spring). The case for a new approach to sex education mounts: Will policymakers heed the message? Retrieved November 23, 2008, from http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/

  • Hamilton, B. E., Martin, J. A., & Ventura, S. J. (2007). Births: Preliminary data for 2006. National vital statistics report 56(7). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

  • Hudson, W. W. (1993). Child’s attitude toward mother (CAM). Tempe: WALMYR Publishing Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahn, R. L., & Antonucci, T. C. (1980). Convoys over the life course: Attachment, roles, and social support. In P. Baltes & O. Brim (Eds.), Life-span development and behavior (pp. 253–286). San Diego: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kobak, R. R., Cole, H. E., Ferenz-Gillies, R., & Fleming, W. S. (1993). Attachment and emotion regulation during mother-teen problem solving: A control theory analysis. Child Development, 64, 231–245.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kobak, R. R., & Sceery, A. (1988). Attachment in adolescence: Working models, affect regulation, and representations of self and others. Child Development, 59, 135–146.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Larson, N. C. (2004). Parenting stress among adolescent mothers in the transition to adulthood. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 21(5), 457–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levitt, M. J. (1991). Attachment and close relationships: A life span perspective. In J. L. Gerwitz & W. F. Kurtines (Eds.), Intersections with attachment (pp. 183–206). Hillsdale: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levitt, M. J. (2005). Social relations in childhood and adolescence: The convoy model perspective. Human Development, 48, 28–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levitt, M. J., Guacci-Franco, N., & Levitt, J. L. (1993). Convoys of social support in childhood and early adolescence: Structure and function. Development Psychology, 29(5), 811–818.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Long, M. S. (2009). Disorganized attachment relationships in infants of adolescent mothers and factors that may augment positive outcomes. Adolescence, 44(175), 621–633.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lounds, J. J., Borkowski, J. G., Whitman, T. L., Maxwell, S. E., & Weed, K. (2005). Adolescent pregnancy and attachment during infancy and early childhood. Parenting: Science and Practice, 5(1), 91–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Main, M., & Hesse, E. (1990). Parent’s unresolved traumatic experiences are related to infant disorganized attachment status: Is frightened and frightening parental behaviors the linking mechanism? In M. Greenberg, D. Cichetti, & M. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years (pp. 161–182). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Main, M., & Solomon, J. (1990). Precursors for identifying infants as disorganized/disoriented during the Ainsworth Strange Situation. In M. Greenberg, D. Cichetti, & M. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years (pp. 121–160). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, J. A.; Hamilton, B. E.; Sutton, P. D.; Ventura, S. J.; Menacher, F.; Kirmeyer, S. et al. (2007). Birth: Final data for 2005. National Vital Statistics Reports, 56(6).

  • Mayers, H. A., Hager-Budny, M., & Buckner, E. B. (2008). The chances for children teen-parent–infant project: Results of a pilot intervention for teen mothers and their infants in inner city high schools. Infant Mental Health, 29(4), 320–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayers, H. A., & Siegler, A. (2004). Finding each other: Using a psychoanalytic-developmental perspective to build understanding between teenage mothers and their babies. Journal of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 3, 444–465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McHatton, P. A., Shaunessy, E., Hughes, C., Brice, A., & Ratliff, M. A. (2007). You gotta represent! Ethnic identity development among Hispanic adolescents. Multicultural Perspectives, 9(3), 12–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moran, G., Pederson, D. R., & Krupka, A. (2005). Maternal unresolved attachment status impedes the effectiveness of interventions with adolescent mothers. Infant Mental Health Journal, 25(3), 231–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muir, J. A., Schwartz, S. J., & Szapocznik, J. (2004). A program of research with Hispanic and African American families: Three decades of intervention development and testing influenced by the changing cultural context of Miami. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 30(3), 285–303.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Muller, M. E. (1989). The development and testing of the Muller Prenatal Attachment Inventory. Dissertation Abstracts International, 50, 08B. (UMI No. 8926411).

  • National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (2005). The adolescent brain: A work in progress. Retrieved April 23, 2009, from http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/resources/pdf/BRAIN.pdf

  • National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (2006, October). By the numbers: The public costs of teen childbearing. Retrieved July 24, 2008, from http://thenationalcampaign.org/resources

  • National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (2009, January). Teen birth rates in the United State: January 2009. Retrieved January 10, 2009, from http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/resources/birthdata/analysis.aspx

  • National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (n.d.). What works: Curriculum-based programs that prevent teen pregnancy. Retrieved April 18, 2008, from http://www.teenpregnancy.org/resources/reading/pdf/WhatWorks.pdf

  • Pajulo, M., Helenious, H., & Mayes, L. (2006). Prenatal views of baby and parenthood: Associations with sociodemographic and pregnancy factors. Infant Mental Health Journal, 27(3), 229–250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polansky, M., Lauterbach, W., Litzke, C., Coulter, B., & Sommers, L. (2006). A qualitative study of an attachment-based parenting group for mothers with drug addictions: On being and having a mother. Journal of Social Work Practice, 20(2), 115–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Public Health Service (PHS). (1989). Caring for our future: Content of prenatal care. Washington: Department of Health and Human Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quinlivan, J. A., & Evans, S. F. (2005). Impact of domestic violence and drug abuse in pregnancy on maternal attachment and infant temperament in teenage smothers in the setting of best clinical practice. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 8, 191–198.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez, N., Bingham-Mira, C., Paez, N. D., & Myers, H. F. (2007). Exploring the complexities of familism and acculturation: Central constructs for people of Mexican origin. American Journal of Psychology, 39, 61–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roisman, G. I., Collins, W. A., Sroufe, L. A., & Egeland, B. (2005). Predictors of young adult’s representations of and behavior in their current romantic relationships: Prospective tests of the prototype hypothesis. Attachment and Human Development, 7(2), 105–121.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, M. (1994). Rosenberg self-esteem scale (RSE). In J. Fischer & K. Corcoran (Eds.), Measures for clinical practice: Couples, families, and children (p. 518). New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, R. (1973). Liking and loving. New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, R. (1975). Maternal tasks of pregnancy. Maternal-Child Nursing Journal, 4, 143–153.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, S., Franzetta, K., & Manlove, J. M. (2005). Hispanic teen pregnancy and birth rates: Looking behind the numbers. Child Trends Research Briefs. Retrieved February 23, 2009, from http://www.childtrends.org/Files/HispanicRB.pdf

  • Sangalang, B. B., Barth, R. P., & Painter, J. S. (2006). First-birth outcomes and timing of second births: A statewide case management program for adolescent mothers. Health and Social Work, 31(1), 54–63.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Santelli, J., Roche, R., Hatfield-Timachy, K., Colley-Gilbert, B., Curtis, K., Cabral, R., et al. (2003). The measurement and meaning of unintended pregnancy. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 35(2), 94–101.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scharf, M., & Mayseless, O. (2007). Putting eggs in more than one basket: A new look at developmental processes of attachment in adolescence. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 117, 235–269.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, S. J., Pantín, H., Prado, G., Sullivan, S., & Szapocznik, J. (2005). Family functioning, identity, and problem behavior in hispanic immigrant early adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 25(4), 392–420.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smokowski, P., & Bacallao, M. (2007). Acculturation, internalizing mental health symptoms, and self-esteem: Cultural experiences of Latino adolescents in North Carolina. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 37(3), 273–292.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sroufe, L. A., Egeland, B., Carlson, E. A., & Collins, W. A. (2005). The development of the person: The Minnesota study of risk and adaptation from birth to adulthood. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg, L. (2005). Cognitive and affective development in adolescence. Trends in Cognitive Science, 9, 83–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stern, D. N. (1995). The motherhood constellation. New York: Harper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Terry-Humen, E., Manlove, J., & Moore, K. A. (2005). Playing catch-up: How children born to teen mothers fare. Washington: The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trenholm, C., Devaney, B., Fortson, K., Quail, L., Wheeler, J., & Clark, M. (2007). Impacts of four Title V abstinence education programs: Final report. Princeton: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNICEF (2007). Child poverty in perspective: An overview of child well-being in rich countries. Innocenti Report Card 7. Florence: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre.

  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2000). Healthy people 2010: National health promotion and disease prevention objectives (DHSS Publication No. PHS 91-50212). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Vital Statistics. (2000, April). Report of the panel to evaluate the U.S. standard certificates. Retrieved November 13, 2008, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/vital_certs_rev.htm

  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Vital Statistics System. (2005a). 2002 National survey of family growth, series 23, no. 25.

  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Vital Statistics System. (2005b). Teen births. Retrieved July 22, 2008, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/teenbrth.htm

  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Vital Statistics Report. (2006). Births: Final data for 2004. Retrieved December, 12, 2008, from http://cdc.gov/nchs/data/mvsr

  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Vital Statistics Report (2007a). Births: Final data for 2005. Retrieved October 10, 2008, from http://cdc.gov/nchs/data/mvsr

  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics. (2007b). NCHS releases preliminary birth data. Retrieved December 13, 2008, from http://thenationalcampaign.org/resources/birthdata.aspx

  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Vital Statistics System. (2008a, October 15). 2003 revisions of the U.S. standard certificate of live birth and death and the fetal death report. Retrieved December 15, 2008, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/vital_certs_rev.htm

  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Vital Statistics System (2008b, October 22). NCHS data brief. Retrieved January 3, 2009, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/briefs/

  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Vital Statistics System. (2009, January 7). Births: Final data for 2006. Retrieved March 3, 2009, from http://www.cdc.gov.nchs/data/nvsr

  • U.S. Department of Health, & Human Services, Centers for Disease Control Prevention. (2010). Healthy people 2010: National health promotion and disease prevention Objectives. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). PRAMS and unintended pregnancy. Retrieved December 24, 2008, from http://www.cdc.gov/prams/up/htm

  • van IJzendoorn, M. H., Juffer, F., & Duyvesteyn, M. G. C. (1995). Breaking the intergenerational cycle of insecure attachment: A review of the effects of attachment-based interventions on maternal sensitivity and infant security. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 36, 225–248.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vedova-Della, A. M., Debrassi, F., & Imbasciati, A. (2008). Assessing prenatal care in a sample of Italian women. Journal of Reproductive & Infant Psychology, 26(20), 86–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ventura, S. J., Mosher, W.D., Curtin, S.C., Abna, J.C., & Henshaw, S. (2004, June 15). Estimated pregnancy rates for the United States, 1990–2000: An update. National Vital Statistics Report, 52(23). Hyattsville: National Center for Health Statistics.

  • Vexler, E. (2007). Voices heard: Latino adults and teens speak up about teen pregnancy. Washington: National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeanah, C. H. (2007). Constructing a relationship formulation for mother and child: Clinical application of the Working Model Interview. In D. Oppenheim & D. F. Goldsmith (Eds.), Attachment theory in clinical work with children: Bridging the gap between research and practice (pp. 3–30). New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Texas–Pan American, 1201 West University Dr., Edinburg, TX, 78541-2999, USA

    Janis B. Feldman

Authors
  1. Janis B. Feldman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Janis B. Feldman.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Feldman, J.B. Best Practice for Adolescent Prenatal Care: Application of an Attachment Theory Perspective to Enhance Prenatal Care and Diminish Birth Risks. Child Adolesc Soc Work J 29, 151–166 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-011-0250-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-011-0250-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation