title: [Body image in pregnancy].
abstract: Many women show a remarkable change in body experience during the second period of pregnancy; the enlarged abdomen is no longer perceived as such but as a child. These women have the impression that the child is growing forward and that they are themselves behind the child, sometimes also that the ventral body boundary has moved dorsally--less frequently even behind the child. This change in body experience should be considered as a kind of separation of the child from the mothers body, which can be more or less complete and which is interpreted as a gradual dissociation of the child from primary narcissistic mother child unit; this appears to be useful as a preparation for the birth and for the subsequent mother-child relationship. Factors which may influence the degree of dissociation are discussed. Self perception and awareness of other gravidae are particularly sensitive during pregnancy. The showing off the pregnancy in a sense of self-disclosure is an emotionally important act.
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001828:Body Image; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009289:Narcissism; D011247:Pregnancy; D011573:Psychoanalytic Interpretation; D012649:Self Concept
vernacular_title: Untersuchungen zum Körpererleben in der Schwangerschaft.