From Fetus to Child: An Observational and Psychoanalytical Study

by Alessandra Piontelli

The use of ultrasonic scans in pregnancy makes it possible to observe the fetus undisturbed in the womb. Dr Alessandra Piontelli has done what no one has done she observed eleven fetuses (three singletons and four sets of twins) in the womb using ultrasound scans, and then observed their development at home from birth up to the age of four years. She includes a description of the psychoanalytic psychotherapy of one of the research children, and the psychoanalysis of five other very young children whose behaviour in analysis suggested that they were deeply preoccupied with their experience in the womb.Dr Piontelli has discovered what many parents have always thought - that each fetus, like each newborn baby, is a highly individual creature. By drawing on her experience as a child psychotherapist and psychoanalyst as well as on her observational research, she is able to investigate issues relating to individuality, psychological birth and the influence of maternal emotions during pregnancy. Her findings demonstrate clearly how psychoanalytical evidence enhances, deepens and supports observational data on the remarkable behavioural and psychological continuities between pre-natal and post-natal life.

Genres: Psychology

260 pages, Hardcover

First published February 4, 1992

About the author

After graduating as M.D. and specializing in Neurology and Psychiatry in Italy, I spent 1 year doing my internship in Delhi, India. Subsequently I worked and lived for many years in England.
Back in my country I have been a Visiting Professor of Child Neurology and Psychiatry in several Universities and
I worked in the department of maternal-fetal medicine of the University of Milan. In addition to clinical work, I am an expert in fetal behavior.
Fetal behavior has been highly romanticized and fetuses are becoming cult figures, whilst women are increasingly tormented and loaded with axieties of all kinds. Besides research I love talking to pregnant women and listening to their problems.
Additionally, for about 15 years or so, I have been abroad on medical missions in many developing countries. Among others, this gave me the opportunity to compare the Western world with the developing world. Fetuses do not have any status when poverty, diseases, and lack of sanitary care are prevalent. In these countries our current fetal cult just seems yet another Western fad.

Although I have published several books, the most purchased is a 1992 book that was somewhat open to unverifiable interpretations of fetal behavior, given that future parents' comments on ultrasound were reported. If I could, I would recommend reading more recent books, and in particular 'Citizen Fetus' which will be released in February 2023. Since the early '90s I have changed and so has my knowledge. Besides now I am a grandmother...

During my career, I have been invited to lecture in many countries, including the USA.
I am married with two sons who live and work abroad (USA and UK).