Pre-natal Traumas1

After the reading of Silvia Neborak's paper, the moderator asked colleagues to discuss their ideas about emotions, actions, fantasies and dreams as manifestations of pre-natal life, which are expressed in post-natal life and also in the psychoanalytic link. In psychoanalysis, countertransference is a basic way of its perception.

Dr. Monserrat, Barcelona, said that she had no doubts about the influence of what is prenatal in post-natal life, but that it is not always possible to detect and recognize this influence. She recounted that, during the Olympic Games in Barcelona, a pregnant woman detected strong fetal movements as a consequence of the very loud noises from fireworks during the festivities. In post-natal life, the child, when hearing loud noises, got frightened, remained paralysed and fell asleep. The author recalled two situations: first, of a pregnant woman, who was at a party where the noises were very loud and moved to a quieter spot to preserve the baby; second, of a patient whose mother spoke with a very loud voice. When something moved the patient emotionally, she had sharp noises in her ears and became dizzy as a reaction to the emotional contact.

Hilda Botero, Bogotá, commented that she has been able to prevent premature births when working with the dreams of pregnant women, which she referred to as intra-uterine interventions. Giorgio Corrente, Rome, introduced himself as someone who works with groups, and asks whether the dreamy state of a mother could change the mental basic assumption. According to Bion's theories, if there is no change in the basic assumption, there is no evolution. Could the basic assumption organization be an individual (and not a group) manifestation? Neborak told Dr. Corrente that he had underlined the importance of reverie and the primary capacity for a dreamlike state. Sara Flores, Lima, believed the author's countertransferential experience to be an expression of a communication from unconscious to unconscious, as termed b