Association of phubbing with fear of childbirth and early maternal–infant bonding: a prospective observational study

This study aimed to evaluate the associations of phubbing with fear of childbirth and early maternal–infant bonding among term pregnant women who delivered vaginally. This single-center prospective observational study included 75 women with term pregnancies (37–42 weeks) who delivered vaginally. The Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire-A (W-DEQ A) and Generic Scale of Phubbing (GSP) were administered before active labor, and the Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale (MIBS) was completed on postpartum day 2. MIBS items were recoded so that higher scores indicated more favorable bonding. Associations were assessed using Spearman correlation and multiple linear regression with heteroskedasticity-consistent HC3 standard errors. The mean age was 27.1 ± 4.3 years. Phubbing was negatively correlated with the recoded MIBS total score ( ρ =− 0.543, p < 0.001) and positively correlated with W-DEQ score ( ρ = 0.821, p < 0.001). In the adjusted bonding model, higher phubbing remained independently associated with lower MIBS scores (B = − 0.254, β = − 0.704, p < 0.001), whereas age, multiparity, BMI, and W-DEQ score were not significant. The model explained 49.9% of the variance in MIBS scores. In the fear-of-childbirth model, higher phubbing scores remained independently associated with higher W-DEQ scores (B = 1.153, β = 0.674, p < 0.001). Multiparous women had lower W-DEQ scores than nulliparous women (B = − 8.036, β = − 0.203, p = 0.035), whereas age and BMI were not statistically significant. The revised model explained 58.2% of the variance in W-DEQ scores. In this preliminary observational study, higher phubbing was associated with greater fear of childbirth and less favorable very early postpartum maternal–infant bonding. These exploratory findings require confirmation in larger longitudinal studies with later postpartum assessments before clinical implications can be established.