ABSTRACT
The emotional demands of pregnancy and parenting are very great. People seek help themselves or are referred for a range of problems relating to general unhappiness, the pain of infertility, and/or the emotional impact of medical treatment; pseudocyesis or conflicts during pregnancy, sometimes leading to abortion. Despite its ubiquitousness, there has been relatively little written about treatment of pregnant women with psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Women who become pregnant during the course of an ongoing analysis or psychotherapy experience an emotional shift due to inner turbulence and greater accessibility of unconscious material. The childless psychoanalyst or therapist inevitably experiences disturbing twinges of envy and awesome appreciation of the powerhouse of live creativity on their couch. Pregnancy can be seen to act as a provoking factor for mental illness in women who are particularly vulnerable due to various risk factors, such as economic problems, marital difficulties, unplanned pregnancy, poor social support, and past psychiatric history.
