[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.