The Problem of Intrauterine Anxiety: Its Consequences and Resolution*

My long years of observation of mothers and children while working at The Jewish Board of Guardians lead me to the conclusion that there is a definite relationship between the feelings of the mother during pregnancy and the “emotional reactions” and development of the fetus. It seems to me that unwanted fetuses must experience the fear of death and wanted fetuses experience a feeling of pleasure and well-being. Mothers who did not want their pregnancies for one reason or another and tried to harm themselves physically, or did not eat the proper food, often bore infants who were characteristically colicky, cranky, cried, and had feeding difficulties. Consequently, the mother and child often became engaged in an endless battle of hate and neglect. It is well known that many women who did not want their children killed their infants, flushed them down toilets, or abandoned them.

It is quite obvious to me that those infants who by chance survived and grew up incorporated a destructive self-hate that prevented a successful adult adjustment. It seemed that no matter what therapeutic help was received in later life, unless this intrauteral fear of death was worked through in the transference situation, there was little hope for them.

The situation was quite different with parents who wanted children