A Bio-Psycho-Social Assessment of Maternal Attachment in Pregnancy and Fetal Loss.

Social workers assist women of child-bearing age in a wide variety of settings. Although pregnancy and pregnancy loss are often associated with medical settings, the reality is that any clinical social worker will encounter women who are currently pregnant, who have been pregnant, and/or who have experience pregnancy loss. Clinical social workers need to understand the theoretical underpinnings of maternal attachment and loss to adequately meet the needs of the women who have had these experiences. Clinical social workers must be able to competently assess the problems that occur when attachment goes awry or pregnancy loss is experienced. This article provides an overview of maternal attachment and responses to pregnancy loss from the biological, psychological and social perspectives. This enables social workers to be sensitized to the impact of these issues in the work we do with all women of child-bearing age across all settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]