L’ascolto e la comprensione dell’esperienza psichica di gravidanza

This article discusses the work of a group that is studying the internal psychic space of pregnant women. The group, conducted by Gina Ferrara Mori and composed of psychoanalysts and psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapists, has been working together for many years comparing each member’s professional experience in Infant Observation (according to Esther Bick’s methodology) and research on motherhood. The study group that shares the common conviction that pregnancy is a psychosomatic event, proposes to explore internal motherhood, the psychic dimension of pregnancy. The group’s main aim is to understand the maternal atmosphere that begins with pregnancy and that determines new mental experiences during pregnancy and transforms the organization of the self. The material discussed comes from different observational areas such as initial interviews with pregnant women for Infant Observation, therapy with pregnant patients, preparatory groups for mothers-to-be, observations of and monitoring during the entire pregnancy period. The group’s work confirms the importance of Monique Bydlowski’s concept of psychic transparency: a specific mental state during pregnancy in which there is a greater permeability of the unconscious and pre-conscious allowing for a more immediate access to maternal psychic functioning which includes doubts, fears, conflicts, changes and vulnerability. The observatory is not only a study group that does research; it is also a place where professional workers can become better equipped to contribute to the development of a new way to treat pregnant women in the public health service. The members of this group believe that it is important to create an appropriate atmosphere between pregnant women and health workers for both the health workers (midwives, gynecologists, pediatricians, ecographists) as well as the pregnant women especially in regard to their future relationship to the new born baby.

Gina Ferrara Mori, Laura Mori, L’ascolto e la comprensione dell’esperienza psichica di gravidanza in "INTERAZIONI" 2/2007, pp 43-55, DOI: