Adaptation to Developmental Transformations During the Various Phases of Motherhood

Abstract

The developmental processes that surround pregnancy and motherhood exert powerful and all-encompassing effects on the lives of the women undergoing such changes. Research has recently determined that the physiological and emotional transformations that occur in pregnant women may have a significant impact on the relationship that gradually develops between mothers and their infants. The growth of this relationship with the infant is directly related to the developmental challenges confronting the expectant women and new mother. Although many women are fearful or ambivalent about expressing their emotions during such periods of developmental change because of the implications of such feelings, exploratory work that encourages the disclosure of dreams and fantasies often enables the therapist to predict the patient's future ability to cope with the challenges of motherhood. This article examines five cases in which the developmental transformations experienced by the woman during the antenatal and postnatal periods significantly influenced the evolution of an attachment relationship with the infant.

Maternal representations in the dreams of pregnant women: a prospective comparative study

“…Further, our statistical controls may account for the fact that we did not replicate some previous findings and clinical impressions. On the other hand, since it has been suggested that by the end of pregnancy a woman has generally reached reconciliation with her internalized relationships, particularly those relating to her own mother (Raphael-Leff, 1991; Trad, 1991), it may be that issues relating to mental representations of other aspects of herself and her relationships have been processed in dreams at earlier stages of pregnancy. This possibility is consistent with our finding that dreams depicting the woman as a daughter and as part of her own family along with parents and family representations were not associated with morbid elements among pregnant women whereas they were among non-pregnant women.…”

Perinatal predictors of sleep disturbances in young infants

“…One possible explanation may be that sleep troubles are more likely to occur in the babies born to the mothers without previous experience in infant rearing and handling. It is also known that the first-time mothers are most likely to undergo such psychological and emotional changes that may affect not only her self-identity but also sense of self, character, and self-esteem [39,51], factors…”

Acceptance of Pregnancy

“…Some women pointed out that they felt some ambivalence was "normal." When ambivalence was excessive and sustained, there was a tendency to displace the emotional concerns of pregnancy and motherhood onto the physical aspects of pregnancy and childbirth, such as the bodily changes and discomforts of pregnancy , 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 and the pain of labor, also noted by Trad (1991). Persons conducting assessments of pregnancy acceptance need to be cognizant of this type of displacement.…”

“…When resolution of psychosocial conflict occurred slowly or not at all, even a planned pregnancy was difficult to accept. If residual conflict still seemed unresolved by the third trimester, it was expressed more indirectly -for example, in dreams and in intense fears about labor, responses also reported by Trad (1991) and Cohen (1988). Examples of this are provided in the following sections.…”