Psychology of Reproduction: Pregnancy, Parenthood, and Parental Ties

Abstract

Freudian drive theory focused on the psychic expression of instinctual drives (i.e. sexuality and aggression); its later revision, ego psychology, emphasized how those instincts are adaptively managed by our coping resources, the ego and its defenses. 3, 4 Although Freud eventually constructed a complex psychology of human functioning, it should not be forgotten that his roots, aspirations, and beliefs were steeped in a psychophysiologic model, making him, in Sulloway's terms, a "biologist of the mind". 5 As an instinctual process, pregnancy was understood as recapitulating infantile sexuality. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 In the first trimester, with the attachment of the fetus inside the uterus, orality predominates, coinciding with symptoms of nausea and food cravings. In the next trimester, the fetus is accorded greater personhood during quickening as anal trends become more prominent, corresponding to the toddler period of increased separation from parents. Finally, during the third trimester, as the mother prepares for delivery, phallic-aggressive wishes, associated with urethral issues, gain ascendance, linked with heightened fears that she or the baby may die, along with the dread of losing control. As well as this libidinal regression, earlier modes of cognition typically occur during pregnancy. Ego regression with a distorted perception of reality, magical thinking associated with primary process (e.g. irrational beliefs and fears), and greater emotional volatility are all a normal part of pregnancy. 10, 11 This often leads to high anxiety, 9, 12 with obsessional, compulsive, and phobic preoccupations 13 that give the appearance of emotional disturbance on psychologic measures. 14 With the lessening of defenses, pregnancy can be seen as an optimal time for psychoanalytic interventions.

The phenomenon of pregnancy — a psychological view

“…Magical thinking occurs when "the person believes that his or her thoughts, words, or actions might, or will in some manner, cause or prevent a specific outcome in some way that defies the normal laws of cause and effect" [3]. Furthermore, this situation, with higher emotional fluctuations can provoke anxious trends with phobic and obsessive-compulsive preoccupations [4].…”

Sex vs Gender: Are We there Yet? A Biological Location for Gender, not Sex.

“…Empathy can be defined as appropriate perception, experience, and response to another's emotion (Swain et al, 2007), in short, it is the ability to identify and respond to another's mental state and in the care of offspring, it is the ability to respond to infant cues. Human babies are helpless for many years and a mother must resonate with the state of her infant's helplessness, meaning she must possess empathy and maternal synchrony (Leon, 2008;Cardinal et al, 2002;Oxley & Fleming, 2000).…”

The other side of the mirror – the role of partner’s empathy in transition to parenthood

“…Additionally, fathers also cope with new social and emotional challenges during transition to parenthood (Kaźmierczak, Kiełbratowska, Pastwa-Wojciechowska, & Preis, 2013). One way to increase the quality of romantic relationships in the period of becoming parents is to promote empathy (Leon, 2008).…”

“…Studies on parents preparing for the birth of a child indicate that expression of empathy within a couple leads to better adaptation to the perinatal and postnatal periods (Kaźmierczak, 2015;Leon, 2008). During those periods empathising with the partner and perspective-taking raise the quality of communication and awareness of the partner's experiences, which positively affects satisfaction with the relationship (Guttmann & Lazar, 2004).…”