You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
In her latest book, Dark Side of the Womb, Dr Joan Raphael-Leff brings together neonatal research, object relations theory, infant observation, and attachment theory to give a comprehensive description of the wonders and trials of early life, from foetus to newborn. She invites the reader into the intrauterine experience of the foetus, and into the mind of the mother and carer, with considerations of the challenges of becoming a parent to this new being. A central point that Raphael-Leff clearly wishes to convey is that our relatedness of self to other originates in the fact that we start out as a guest in our mother's body. We are dependent on and benefit from this life-affirming hospitality, and guest and host are mutually affected by the physical and psychological dimensions of the experience; this is both metaphor and fact for all else that follows. In a necessary digression early in the book, Raphael-Leff informs the reader of the sudden death of her son as Dark Side of the Womb was about to go to press, bringing to mind the inevitable progression of life towards death, as surely as her book affirms the life process from conception into the unfolding postnatal experience.
The book takes its title and beautifully dramatic cover from The Dark Side of the Moon, an album by Pink Floyd. Raphael-Leff celebrates the poetry of these songs and acknowledges the writings of other cultural and intellectual masters with quotes throughout the book. The title and the quotes serve to remind the reader of the depth, meaning, mystery, and anxieties associated with the subject matter.
Joan Raphael-Leff intends her book to be relevant to both clinicians and parents, and has presented it in a readable and accessible format. She has organised the book into chapters, sub-headings, and paragraphs that are easily digested, breaking up the contents into “bite-sized segments which busy parents and professionals can nibble before sleep” (p. 3 of Introduction). She prefaces each chapter with