The Mother-Observer Relationship: An Examination of the Participant Role of the Observer in Mother-Infant Observation

The relationship between mother and observer in mother-infant observation as described by Esther Bick is examined. Specifically, the question as to whether this relationship influences what is being observed is considered.

The author gives an account of her own relationship as an observer with a mother. The mother was an epileptic and fell with her baby (then six weeks old) causing the baby to suffer a broken skull. Exploration of events during the period of observation leads to the conclusion that the relationship between the mother and the observer was one of transference. Within this transference the observer seemed to be the mother of the one observed. This together with the effects on the observed mother's unconscious conflict with her own mother due to epilepsy is described.

Given transference in the mother-observer relationship doubts are raised as to the tenability of the attitude of distance and non-interference prescribed for the observer. The conclusion is drawn that, in any case, the role of the observer is a participant role, which poses the epistemological problem of the interference of the observer with the observed.