Inside stories: maternal representations of first time mothers from pre-pregnancy to early pregnancy

According to the psychoanalytical literature, it is during pregnancy that maternal representations of the mother-infant relationship become activated. Midwives who are engaged with the mother and the baby have not drawn upon this concept in their practice. In order for this to happen, it is important to understand better the nature of maternal representations and when they are activated from empirical studies.

The research question is: what are the maternal representations of a group of first time mothers from pre-pregnancy, early pregnancy and to the first ultrasound.

A narrative approach was used to gain insight into the maternal representations of first time pregnant womens' account of their representations. The analysis method was based on thematic approach.

Fifteen women aged between 23 and 38 years.

A midwives clinic attached to a tertiary hospital in Melbourne, Australia.

First-time pregnant women's maternal representations were activated when a woman begins to plan her pregnancy ('the time is right'), again at the onset of physical changes to her body as a result of conception ('my body is changing'), and at the first early ultrasound at around twelve weeks ('it' is a real baby).

Maternal representations are important for the midwife and pregnant women because this concept provides another understanding in relation to the psychological dimension of pregnancy.