Birth, Bonding and Baby Behaviour - Understanding the Links Between Childbirth Experience and Early Infant Behaviour

This book about Birth, Bonding and Baby Behaviour investigates the many factors surrounding childbirth and the early postnatal period that influence parents mental health, parent-infant bonding, and infant behaviour and temperament. Beyond the purely physiological processes of labour and birth, it investigates the mother s subjective and emotional journey by examining how supported she feels, how she experiences the birth, and how those experiences affect her in the days and weeks that follow. The book explores the impact of physical and psychological experiences during childbirth on the well-being of both mother and baby, providing insights into the complex interplay between the mother s body and mind and the infant s behaviour and development. It is a vital resource for midwives and other healthcare professionals who work with mothers and infants during childbirth.
The book presents three original, in-depth studies, situating these findings within the broader context of existing research. In doing so, it offers a nuanced perspective on childbirth as not only a medical event but also a profoundly human experience with lasting consequences for both mother and child. By the end, readers will have a deeper understanding and greater compassion for childbirth as a holistic, transformative, and life-changing experience one that shapes the foundations of the mother-baby bond and helps determine the infant s early development.
Foreword by Professor Lesley Page, Oxford

List of contents

Chapter 1. An introduction to early infant behaviour in the context of childbirth.- Chapter 2. A brief introduction to infant temperament and parent-infant bonding.- Chapter 3. How is Childbirth Related to Bonding and Baby Behaviour? Physical factors that may influence the course of childbirth and infant outcomes.- Chapter 4. Psychological Impacts of Childbirth on Mother and Baby.- Chapter 5. Maternity care providers perceptions of childbirth and baby behaviour.- Chapter 6. Mothers childbirth experiences and perceptions of their baby s behaviour.- Chapter 7. Physical and psychological experiences of childbirth and baby behaviour: A survey of a thousand mothers Part One.- Chapter 8. Physical and psychological experiences of childbirth and baby behaviour: A survey of a thousand mothers Part Two.- Chapter 9. Joining the Dots What does this all mean for the future of maternity care?.

About the author

Carmen Power is a writer, researcher, educator, and consultant specialising in the interconnected fields of childbirth, perinatal mental health, parent–infant bonding, and infant behaviour, temperament, and development. With a background in Psychology and Education, she is also a trained doula, hypnobirthing practitioner, and early years education specialist.

Carmen holds a PhD in Public Health, where her research focused on mothers’ experiences of childbirth and baby behaviour, viewed from the perspectives of both health professionals and mothers. She is actively involved in several international collaborations, including with the Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology (SRIP); the TREASURE European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST Action), which investigates maternal perinatal stress and adverse outcomes in offspring; and ongoing projects on Humanising Childbirth and the Polarisation of Maternity Care with medical sociologist Professor Sue Ziebland and leading midwifery professors Lesley Page (CBE), Jane Sandall, and Soo Downe.

In addition to her academic work, Carmen provides consultancy, research, analysis, and report writing on childbirth, parent–infant bonding, and infant social–emotional development for charities such as the Parent Infant Foundation, the Royal Foundation, and the Birth Trauma Association. She regularly presents at international conferences on midwifery, reproductive health, and infant psychology, and mentors students across the UK in Psychology, Education, and Public Health.

Carmen is an active member of the World Association of Infant Mental Health and has served on the committee of the Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology for several years. Her particular expertise lies in mothers’ experiences of childbirth, perinatal mental health, parent-infant bonding, and babies’ behavioural and developmental responses to birth.

Summary

This book about Birth, Bonding and Baby Behaviour investigates the many factors surrounding childbirth and the early postnatal period that influence parents’ mental health, parent-infant bonding, and infant behaviour and temperament. Beyond the purely physiological processes of labour and birth, it investigates the mother’s subjective and emotional journey by examining how supported she feels, how she experiences the birth, and how those experiences affect her in the days and weeks that follow. The book explores the impact of physical and psychological experiences during childbirth on the well-being of both mother and baby, providing insights into the complex interplay between the mother’s body and mind and the infant’s behaviour and development. It is a vital resource for midwives and other healthcare professionals who work with mothers and infants during childbirth.
The book presents three original, in-depth studies, situating these findings within the broader context of existing research. In doing so, it offers a nuanced perspective on childbirth as not only a medical event but also a profoundly human experience with lasting consequences for both mother and child. By the end, readers will have a deeper understanding and greater compassion for childbirth as a holistic, transformative, and life-changing experience – one that shapes the foundations of the mother-baby bond and helps determine the infant’s early development.
Foreword by Professor Lesley Page, Oxford

Product details

• Authors: Carmen Power
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 31.10.2025
• EAN: 9783032058447
• ISBN: 978-3-0-3205844-7
• No. of pages: 242
• Illustrations: XXV, 242 p. 101 illus., 92 illus. in color.
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Medicine > Medical professions; Entwicklungspsychologie, Pädiatrie, Gynäkologie und Geburtshilfe, Pediatrics, Gynecology, Midwifery, Developmental Psychology, Childbirth experience, Postnatal distress and depression, Midwifery research, Infant temperament, PTSD after childbirth, Infant behaviour, Perinatal mental health and support, Parent-infant bonding