The Impact Of Parent Infant Work - On The Mother Infant relationship
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Impact Of Parent Infant Work - On The Mother Infant relationship: From an Unconscious State of Maternal Emotional Unavailability to a State of Mindfulness, breaking the Trans-generational cycle.
IRAS ID
116754
Contact name
Renee Thurston
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of East London
Research summary
The Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Perinatal and Parent-Infant Mental Health Service is an outpatient service within Central and North West London Foundation Trust ( CNWL FT) . It response to the needs of pregnant women and their partners who are having difficulties adjusting to pregnancy or their new baby. Problems include significant anxiety or depression during the antenatal and postnatal periods. Central to this work is the growth of the parent-infant relationship. I work as a Psychotherapist within the Perinatal Service. This psychotherapeutic work enables the pregnant woman and new mother to think about emotional problems associated with her pregnancy and relationship with her new baby.
This study intends to use clinical data from first-time mothers who have been referred to the perinatal service. Clinical sessions for each individual patient take place in the same therapy room at a regular, specified time. Each session last fifty minutes.
The objective of this research would be based on the study of careful monitoring of the unfolding processes of unconscious maternal unavailability presented in our individual parent/infant sessions. This study aims to evaluate the impact of individual psychoanalytic intervention on this particular kind of maternal unavailability that mothers bring to their sessions. My interest in looking into the area of maternal unavailability has grown out of my work as a Perinatal Psychotherapist in the Perinatal Service at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. Central to this work is the growth of the relationship between the parents and their infant. The cases that I have worked with have been rewarding and have aroused a profound personal interest around the issue of the impact of this state of unconscious maternal unavailability, as a particular kind of mental pre-occupation in both antenatal and postnatal contexts. I would like to draw together some of the most powerful impressions made upon me during the quantifiable experience of parent-infant individual work with perinatal cases.
REC name
London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/LO/1713
Date of REC Opinion
18 Feb 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion