“…The crisis view of pregnancy is now widely accepted (Breen, 1975) and evidence suggests that a significant minority of pregnant women are overwhelmed by the psychological tasks involved (Rossi, 1974;Oakley, 1980). These tasks include the restructuring of the self-concept inherent in the transition to the maternal role and working through of the accompanying losses and threats (Rossi, 1974), the development of an emotional attachment to the unborn child (Condon, 1985), a reworking of the identification with the woman's own mother (Breen, 1975; Ballou, 1978) and, in the case of a first pregnancy, a relinquishment of the one-to-one dyadic marital relationship (Rossi, 1974; Ballou, 1978). The ability of the individual ego to surmount the crisis depends upon the vicissitudes of its development which, in turn, determine the ego's strengths and weaknesses, the symbolic meaning of the pregnancy and the likelihood of child bearing recapitulating old unresolved conflicts.…”