The maternal position of women raising single or twin infants: A review of Russian and foreign studies

Introduction. The article presents an overview of Russian and foreign studies devoted to a wide range of issues in the relationship between a mother and a single infant or twin infants. Materials and Methods. We analyzed 124 articles which are available in the databases Scopus, Semantic Scholar, PubMed, Bielefeld Academic Search Engine, RSCI and Crossref and contain keywords reflecting mother-child interaction in families with one infant or twin infants. Most of the articles were published from 2000 to 2023. Results. The review focuses on the maternal sphere of a woman. The authors analyze the influence of the value-semantic aspects of motherhood, the mother’s actual psycho-emotional state and her sensitivity and responsiveness on the mental health and development of a single infant and twin infants. The article describes the concept of the maternal position in women raising a single infant or twin infants. The maternal position is manifested in the specific behavior of a woman, which depends on her value attitude to the role of the mother, her sensitivity to the condition of the child, and her understanding of the child’s individual characteristics. The maternal position also reflects the mother’s evaluative attitude to the performance of her functions. The maternal position of women raising twin infants is undergoing changes due to the fact that the mother is simultaneously a part of two mother-child dyads. The review shows that mothers of twin infants tend to pay attention to the twins in general and build a unified interaction with the children, without paying sufficient attention to the characteristics and needs of each individual child. Conclusions. The maternal position is a system of mother-to-child relationships which is manifested in a certain maternal behavior and the quality of performance of maternal functions. The maternal position is closely related to the sensitivity and responsiveness of the mother and can be compared with the parameters of adaptation to the maternal role. The review showed the need for empirical studies of the maternal position of women raising infants, including infants with various developmental disorders.