Does conception spontaneously or with ART affect postpartum parenting behaviors?

Pregnancy and parenting may be psychologically more complex after assisted conception than after spontaneous conception. On the other hand, the literature demonstrates that mothers who conceived with ART comply with transition to parenting easily although they experience more problems in pregnancy and postpartum. This study aimed to compare postpartum parenting behaviors of women who conceived spontaneously or with ART. This descriptive, cross-sectional and comparative study was conducted between July 2017 and June 2018 in Dokuz Eylul University postpartum clinic with 50 spontaneous mother and 50 ART mothers. After a brief explanation of the study, the personal information form was applied to women and the parenting behaviours were observed by using Postpartum Parenting Behavior Scale. The total PPBS average score in the ART group was 5.40 +/- 1.41 compared with 3.62 +/- 2.24 in the comparison group. The ART mother displayed significantly a more positive attitude toward their infant than spontaneous mother (p = 0.00). Also, in six components of PPBS separately it was determined higher score in ART group, respectively (p = 0.04, p = 0.00, p = 0.00, p = 0.00, p = 0.00, p = 0.00). Mothers who were conceived with ART exhibit more positive parenting behaviors.