ABSTRACT
This chapter describes some aspects of the inner world of mothers regarding their children. It establishes links between what psychoanalytic practice has allowed to learn about maternal subjectivity and the descriptions given by empirical studies on early dyadic interaction. The chapter explores a particular, but fairly frequent, mental state in many mothers analysed: a permanent, lurking feeling that they do not comply with the ideal mother model, that they cannot be "a good enough mother". The maternal superego is based on constant reaffirmation that she is doing things right with her child, a sort of manual of ideal feelings and procedures that real interaction refutes constantly. The fantasy of the "bad internal mother" depends on three factors: awareness of the baby's helplessness and suffering, and identification with this state; the narcissistic component of identification with the maternal ego ideal; and the influence of cultural ideals.
