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Expectant Women & Inner Life

Abstract:

To my mind, the best way of ensuring the mental health of infants is to foster the psychological well-being of those caring for the baby before and after birth. For the 40 weeks before being born a baby is in continuous intimate visceral contact with the mother, absorbing not only nutrients but as new research evidence shows, subtle biochemical changes of her emotional ambiance. Pregnancy is as old as humankind; physiologically it has hardly changed over the millennia but culturally it varies a great deal in terms of societal practices and personal expectations an in terms of each individual woman's representation of herself and experience of her baby to come.

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changing self identity, emotional vulnerability, emotional wellbeing, mental health, psychic impression