The Moon Hung on a Navelstring from the Dark: The Metaphor of Mother as Placenta and its Effect on Parenting Concepts
Raphael-Leff, Joan
Vol. 6 (1), 1991, 33-54

A psychosocial analysis explores some fantasies underpinning sexual asymmetry with emphasis on female childrearing and denial of maternal subjectivity. This essay suggests that although recent technology allows people to discriminate between sexuality, reproduction and childrearing, underlying unconscious paradigms continue to inform and restrict parenting modes. The author presents a model of four prevalent parental orientations: Facilitator and Regulator mothers; and Participator and Renouncer fathers. An alternative orientation based on intersubjective acknowledgement of self, partner and baby as separate, different, yet emotionally similar individuals is proposed and discussed.

Fantasy State during Pregnancy: A Psychoanalytic Account
Sherwen, Laurie N.
Vol. 6 (1), 1991, 55-72

Fantasy during pregnancy is common, especially during the third trimester. It is often disturbing to the woman, and may provide insights into client concerns of clinical relevance to health care professions who treat this population. This paper reports a preliminary classification schema for third trimester fantasies based on a survey of pregnant women. Clinical examples of counseling situations using the schema are discussed, and assessment of fantasy states during pregnancy is seen as an important component to be included in delivering care to the whole woman.

Infant Outcomes of a Prenatal Stimulation Pilot Study
Logan, Brent
Vol. 6 (1), 1991, 7-32

This article reports on a prenatal stimulation pilot study begun with a two-month fetus. The design provided progressive sonoral stimuli adapted from the maternal blood pulse, conforming to the prenate's natural sonic environment. Three hours of daily application lasted 7 months administered by a portable audio cassette player with transducers positioned on the abdomen. After birth, the Clinical Linguistic and Auditory Milestone Scale (CLAMS) and other measurements were used to assess development, and the study was expanded to identical twins who performed comparably with the first advantaged infant. Average receptive and expressive inventory scores at 6 months describe achievement in children one year older, 10 months beyond the gifted level.

Muscular Armoring in Labor: An Orgonomic (Bioenergetic) Perspective
Blasband, Richard A., Karpf, Robin R., & Konia, Charles
Vol. 6 (1), 1991, 73-84

Chronic armoring is a physiological contraction of the musculature that begins in childhood and serves to protect the organism against inner feelings and threats from the outer world. In childbirth, armoring prevents easy surrender to the process of labor. Psychiatric orgone therapy uses a functional blend of character analysis, deep respiration, and manual pressure on spastic musculature to remove armoring. Two cases illustrate the function of armoring and the effects of its therapeutic release in childbirth.

The Emotional Reactions of Parents to their Premature Baby
Hynan, Michael T.
Vol. 6 (1), 1991, 85-96

Parents have a confusing variety of emotional reactions to the stress of a high-risk birth: terror, grief, impotence, and anger. Some of these reactions bring families closer together; at other times, these emotions pull spouses apart. This essay argues that even though these emotions are troubling, they are normal experiences during a life-and-death crisis, and that the parents' recovery from the stress of a high-risk birth depends on how well they accept their feelings and the changes in their lives.

A Comparison of Emotional State and Support in Women at High and Low Risk for Preterm Birth, with Diabetes in Pregnancy, and in Non-Pregnant Professional Women
Moore, Mary Lou, Meis, Paul, Jeffries, Sheliah, Ernest, J. M., Buerkle, Lois, Swain, Melissa, & Hill, Carol
Vol. 6 (2), 1991, 109-129

The authors examine psychosocial factors involved in producing pregnancy complications. An initial descriptive study of the development of psychosocial profiles of three groups of pregnant women (high and low risk for preterm birth and with diabetes mellitus) using seven instruments is presented. Results suggest that economic status may be as important as medical risk as a source of distress among pregnant women.

Maternal Psychological Characteristics and Intrauterine Growth Retardation
Goldenberg, Robert L., Cliver, Suzanne P., Cutter, Gary R., Hoffman, Howard J., Copper, Rachel L., Gotlieb, Sharon, & Davis, Richard O.
Vol. 6 (2), 1991, 129-134

Scores on 6 psychosocial questionnaires were compared to the risk of delivering an IUGR infant. In the second trimester, scales for stress, anxiety, social support, mastery, self-esteem, and depression were prospectively administered to 1500 indigent women. In univariate analyses, significant relationships were found between IUGR and a poor score for mastery, stress, anxiety and self-esteem. The results were additive: the poorer the scores, the higher the rate of IUGR. A series of regression analyses controlling for height, weight, smoking, alcohol use and the birth of a previous low-birth-weight infant showed that poor scores on 3 of the scales and a poor overall score remained significantly associated with IUGR.

Prenatal Stress and Handedness among Offspring
Ellis, Lee, & Peckham, William
Vol. 6 (2), 1991, 135-144

Stressful experiences recalled by 270 mothers beginning a year prior to pregnancy through the end of pregnancy were compared for right-, left- and mixed-handed offspring of both sexes. For the male offspring, mothers of left-handers recalled significantly more severe stress throughout pregnancy than did mothers of either right- or mixed-handers. For the female offspring, no significant differences were found. Results were interpreted as consistent with the view that stress hormones secreted by the mother during pregnancy can significantly affect the hemispheric functioning of the neocortex of the offspring.

Birth Trauma and Suicide: A Study of the Relationship between Near-Death Experiences at Birth and later Suicidal Behavior
Roedding, Jude
Roedding, Jude

The relationship between birth trauma and suicide is discussed along with a critique of psychoanalytic theory. A number of studies linking suicide to birth trauma are surveyed, and a synthetic theory of this relationship is described, exploring the positive role of therapy in resolving birth trauma-related conflict.

Effect of Receiving Genetic Counseling on Pre-Event Anxiety in Genetic Amniocentesis Patients
Ruiz-Bueno, Jo Ann B., Sime, A. Marilyn, & Kitchell, Marjorie H.
Vol. 6 (2), 1991, 171-180

Data were obtained as part of a larger experimental study of 48 genetic amniocentesis patients. Information about genetic counseling was obtained through a demographic data questionnaire. State anxiety was measured before the procedure. Pre-event anxiety scores of women who had received genetic counseling a day before the procedure were compared with those who had not received counseling before their appointment day. T-test for independent means revealed that those who had counseling before the day of the procedure reported significantly less anxiety. Prior counseling offers needed time for information integration and truly informed choice.

Proto-Rhythms: Basis for the Birth of Musical Intelligence and Language Expression
Fridman, Ruth
Vol. 6 (2), 1991, 181-198

This paper refers to the role of proto-rhythms in future musical acquisition as a basis for the birth of musical intelligence and language expression, analyzing the role of rhythm in the vocal expressions of neonates and in relation to expressions uttered between their 22nd and 24th months of age. The work presents transcriptions in musical symbols from the first cry to expressions of the second year of life. The author uses these data to aver that proto- rhythms are genetically planned and fundamental for future intoned language, and should be stimulated by the parents and mothers-to-be.

Presidential Address, Fifth International PPPANA Congress, Atlanta, GA, July 18-21, 1991
Verny, Thomas R.
Vol. 6 (3), 1992, 207-216

This speech is a call to greater awareness of the toxic effects of environmental chemicals, parental emotions, and other hazards affecting the unborn. Several case histories from clinical practice and research studies are provided to illustrate the harmful effects of the mother's exposure to chemicals and stressors.

Is There Intelligence before Birth?
Chamberlain, David B.
Vol. 6 (3), 1992, 217-238

The concept of intelligence embodied in IQ tests is now being radically redefined in psychology. New approaches formulated by Robert Sternbert (1988) and Howard Gardner (1983) are multi-dimensional, behavioral, and closely related to everyday living. In this paper, experimental, clinical and anecdotal evidence about life before birth is marshaled to meet the proposed criteria of intelligence, including: linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, and intra- and interpersonal intelligences. Six conclusions are presented from the data.

Clinical Implications for Behavioral Assessment of Sleep/Wake States in Neonates: Augmenting Medical Diagnostic Evaluations
DeSantis, Darlene T.
Vol. 6 (3), 1992, 239-248

The use of behaviorally defined sleep and wake states for detecting or predicting abnormal development in high-risk newborns is addressed. Two cases are presented: one, a relatively low-risk 32-week gestation infant, illustrates how immediate subjective impressions by a trained observer may reveal useful clinical information without having to wait for a lengthy computer analysis usually performed with this assessment technique; the other, a case in which a trained observer's assessment assisted the medical team in confirming their diagnosis of massive brain damage and loss of function in an anencephalic newborn.

Attachment or Loss within Marriage: The effect of the Medical Model of Birthing on the Marital Bond Love
Moran, Marilyn A.
Vol. 6 (4), 1992, 265-280

This paper compares marriages of couples who gave birth at home in a private, loving, intimate way with a group who delivered in the hospital using the customary medical model of birth. Significant differences were found between the groups at 4 and 12 months postpartum regarding the quality of the love relationship. Homebirthers revealed far more compatibility in their marriages than did their hospital-delivered counterparts.

Individuation, Mutual Connection and the Body's Resources: An Interview with Lisbeth Marcher
Bernhardt, Peter
Vol. 6 (4), 1992, 281-294

In an interview, Lisbeth Marcher, a Danish body psychotherapist who has conducted extensive research into psychomotor development over the last 20 years, discusses her findings, including testing the psychological content of each muscle independently of others, studying when each of these muscles first becomes activated in the sequence of psychomotor development, and producing a somatically based theory of human development.

Women's Birth Experience and Subsequent Infant Motor Development
Mehl, Lewis E.
Vol. 6 (4), 1992, 295-316

Fifty-four middle-income couples were followed from six months of pregnancy until six months postpartum. Their attitudes were assessed prenatally, at delivery, and at six-week intervals until six months postpartum to determine the level of attachment to the infant. The motor development items of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development were administered twice to each infant. Results showed that significant predictors of motor behavior included maternal attachment, time from initial feeding, mother's prenatal attitude, parity, paternal prenatal attitude, home environment for birth, quality of the father's birth experience, amount of analgesia or anesthesia administered, family income, and combined maternal and paternal attachment ratings.

Interrelationships between Sexual Responsiveness, Birth, and Breast Feeding
Newton, Niles
Vol. 6 (4), 1992, 317-336

This article treats the similarities common to three reproductive interpersonal acts: coitus, parturition, and lactation. It concludes that women have a more varied heritage of sexual enjoyment than men, and that as their reproductive behavior repertoire involves these three acts, any discussion concerning women's sexuality should take into account the marked intercorrelations and interelationships among coital, parturition, and lactation response. They may share the following characteristics: 1) they are based in part on closely related neurohormonal reflexes; 2) they are sensitive to environmental stimuli, being easily inhibited in their early stages; and 3) under certain circumstances, they can trigger caretaking behavior which is essential to mammalian reproduction.