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The article first discusses the difficulties with which a mother has to contend during pregnancy and after. Unfortunately the fact of her
pregnancy is specially liable to stimulate unconscious hostility and anxiety in those who are in touch with her. One should avoid doing anything calculated to arouse her guilt and reassure her as to her anxieties. The correct psychological care of the mother is a pre-condition for the correct psychological care of the baby.
The evidence at our disposal suggests that the baby's mind is a highly complicated affair. His instincts can never be gratified in full and this gives rise to a state of painful tension. Anxiety results, too, from the existence of conflicting and incompatible instinctual drives.
In the light of this conception of the baby's mind the author proceeds to discuss psychological aspects of feeding, weaning, training in cleanliness, pain and illness, and the desirability or otherwise of various measures adopted in practice. The practical advice given throughout should be very welcome to parents and others confronted with the difficult problems of upbringing.