The Psychological Processes of Childbearing

Childbearing seems eternal, primordial and universal. Yet human reproduction in the 21st century is in a state of flux. This accessible book highlights dramatic changes that have occurred over the last decades, focusing on both individual and cross-cultural diversity across the now elongated childbearing cycle and the uniqueness of desire and emotional experience. It does so by locating the transition to parenthood in its psycho-sexual and socio-economic context, emphasising interweaving internal/external realities and our inherent interconnectedness with others. Included are conscious and unconscious factors determining beliefs, expectations and parenting practices, and ways in which these are affected by rapid urbanisation, shrinking families, societal instability, HIV, governmental maternity and child care policies, and attitudes of professionals. Drawing widely on empirical and clinical research from disparate disciplines psychoanalytic, neuro-scientific, neonatal, sociological, obstetric, anthropological and midwifery this resource book synthesises these to illustrate a spectrum of processes affecting each person's mental health.

Raphael-Leff, Joan

Introduction -- Psychosocial Process of Childbearing Revisited -- Preface -- Foreword -- Pregnancy Expectation -- The wish for a baby: psychosocial and cultural factors -- Considering parenthood: cultural, sexual and ethnic variations -- Prolonged infertility: psychodynamics and psychological impact of diagnosis and treatment -- Pregnancy -- Womb and world: the mother-to-be - common experience and cultural variations -- Maturational phases -- Facilitators, Regulators and Reciprocators: different approaches to pregnancy -- Psychotherapy during pregnancy -- The fetus - sociocultural beliefs, maternal fantasies and fetal abilities -- The professional as mediator between mother and fetus: antenatal care and assessment -- The Expectant Partner -- The father-to-be -- Participators and Renouncers and expectant fathers at risk -- Lesbian partners -- Pregnancy as Transition to Parenthood -- Anticipating parenthood: in the West and in other cultures -- Readjusting family relationships -- Re-evaluation of unconscious contracts and therapeutic opportunities -- Health-care professionals as guides in the transition to motherhood -- Experiences of Labour and Birth -- Anticipating Childbirth -- The birthplace and birth process -- Uncomplicated spontaneous labour -- Managed childbirth -- Coping with the Outcome -- The newborn: parental responses and neonatal sensory and cognitive abilities -- Early days: getting acquainted - unconscious identifications and gender differences -- Postpartum professional care -- First six weeks: differing patterns of maternal and paternal adjustment -- First six weeks: dynamics between the parents -- Siblings -- Adolescent parents -- Adoption -- Complications -- Interrupted pregnancies: abortions -- Prebirth loss and pregnancy complications -- Disruptions around birth: prematurity and illness, stillbirth and perinatal loss -- Postnatal complications: congenital abnormalities and critical conditions in infancy -- Postnatal psychological complications -- Interaction of Psychological and Social Factors Influencing Breast Feeding -- Facilitators & Regulators Questionnaire (FRQ) -- PPQ -Placental Paradigm Questionnaire -- Pregnancy and Early Motherhood