The journey of becoming a mother-infant pair: a close examination of maternal phantasies, foetal ‘experience’ and early infant development

The aim of this thesis is to understand the relationship between maternal phantasies and perceptions during pregnancy with the early development of infants and how infants’ ‘experiences’ and ‘memories’ of their prenatal life might colour their relationship with their mother and early interactions with the external world. Psychoanalysis has always been interested in the possible continuity between intrauterine life and the postnatal world (Freud, 1926) but this interest has largely stayed speculative expect for some ambitious case studies combining ultrasound imaging and infant observations (Caron & Lopes, 2017; Piontelli 1992). The relationship between the pre- and post-natal environment has limited empirical study about it and there is a lack of research around the relationship between maternal phantasies, foetal experience, and their influence on early infant development. In this thesis I ask, can maternal experiences and phantasies during pregnancy affect foetal experience and can we see echoes of this effect in the post-natal world? It has been shown in countless empirical studies (Music, 2017) that the expectant mothers’ behaviours affect the later physical health of her foetus but what about the psyche of the mother and its later effects? Can the expectant mother’s thoughts, conflicts and desires influence the emotional development of her foetus? To address this gap in our understanding of the experience of the foetus and its effects on infant development, this thesis has done a comprehensive literature review on pregnancy and prenatal life and conducted two-fold empirical research. Interviews with five pregnant women in their second trimester of pregnancy was followed by 10-week infant observations with their infants when they turned 6-months-old. Findings and common themes of the interviews and infant observations are explored, with a discussion of what we can infer about foetal experience and the influence of maternal phantasies on it.