95

Forty-eight hours after delivery, 78 mothers responded to the MIBS ( Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale), and three other scales. They were then interviewed 24 hours later by a pediatric psychiatrist, who assessed the mother-infant relationship. The neonatology nurses also filled out the MIBS, imagining the mothers’ responses. MIBS satisfactorily detected difficulties in mother-child bonding (sensitivity = 0.9 and specificity = 0.8 for a threshold score of 2). MIBS scores were independent of maternal mood (EPDS) and of mother attachment style (AAQ). However, these were influenced by the infant’s behavioral characteristics (MAIB). MIBS scores of the mothers and nurses showed low correlation and the item-by-item responses were rarely concordant. Fully 100% of the nurses stated that the MIBS was helpful in evaluating mother-child bonding and 85% of the mothers found it beneficial.