Mother's Sense of Competence in Relation to Infant Temperament Following Home Birth Versus Hospital Birth

The objective of this study was to examine the associations between mother's sense of parenting competence and infant's temperament four months after giving birth either at home or in the hospital. This study included 31 women who had given birth at home and 31 women who had given birth at a hospital. Four months after childbirth they completed questionnaires with items regarding mothers satisfaction and efficacy in mother's role and infant's behaviour. Results show a negative association between mother's sense of competence and infant's negative affect and mother's satisfaction and infant's negative affect for women with hospital birth experience.