The mental representations of first-time mothers-to-be regarding their future child

The first goal of this study was to examine the mental representations of women pregnant for the first time regarding their child-to-be, with particular emphasis on ways in which these representations might differ along gender lines. The second and equally important goal was that of exploring the nature of the relationship which these women envisioned themselves having with their future child, noting again any ways in which the relationship might differ according to the imagined gender of the future child.

Data analysis of 10 in-depth, minimally structured clinical interviews was accomplished using a phenomenoIogicaI reduction procedure. This involved discerning natural units of meaning, noting themes which emerged, and grouping these into clusters which could be progressively col lapsed into superordinate categories which captured what was essential to the individuals protocols at the same time that they uncovered a thematic structure which was common across all 10 protocols. The four superordinate categories which emerged were: (1) Family of Origin, (2) Mental Representations of the Child-to-Be, (3) Son/Daughter Differences, and (4) Wish to Change/Maintain the Past. Ten subthemes, or themes which were significant for some, but not all, of the subjects also emerged and were used to examine the variety across protocols, as well as to detail further issues in the agreed-up theme areas.

The procedures used for assessing the validity and rel iabi l ity of this research project are described in detail and are also compared to the approaches used in traditional quantitative psychological research.

Findings indicated that first-time mothers-to-be in a nonclinical population, during their last trimester of pregnancy, have a rich and active fantasy life regarding their future child. The fantasies of their child-to-be were primarily vivid, alive and involved the mothers in relation to their child - as opposed to static images of just the child itself. The imagined sex of the child-to-be was an extremely important variable in the fantasies of eight of the 10 subjects, strongly coloring the nature of the relationship they envisioned having with their child. A serendipitous finding of this study was that subjects' fantasies of their child-to-be were intertwined with memories of their own earlier relationship with their parents, particularly their mothers.

The relationship of these results to previous research was discussed and followed by an examination of their possible impact on more recent theories of personality development as it may differ for males and females. Methodological concerns were addressed and suggestions for further research in this area were also described.