Claira: A Case Study in Prenatal Learning
Sallenbach, William B.
Vol. 9 (1), 1994, 33-56

Historically, most studies of prenatal learning have centered upon contingency reinforcements, habituation responses, and developmental outcomes. Very little research has examined the learning process during the prenatal period. This case study examines the behavioral responses of one prenate to an experimental curriculum. Significant movement responses are noted. The responses appear as an organized pattern which would imply that the prenate is capable of progressing from generality and abstraction to specificity and discernment in the learning process. This learning process may well be unified, organized, and amodal in nature. Movement patterns imply that higher order variables help govern learning and are critical in the emergence of mental schema and regulations. Results from this study suggest that at the prenatal level, the beginning of cognitive schemes and regulations in mental operations exists. Responses during the prenatal period are compared to later developmental trends in infancy. (Reprinted in Vol. 12 [3-4], 1998)

The Stork in the Lab: Biological, Psychological, Ethical, Social and Legal Aspects of Third Party Conceptions
Verny, Thomas R.
Vol. 9 (1), 1994, 57-84

The proliferation of third-party conceptions has answered the prayers of some infertile couples for a child but also created a variety of profound biological, ethical, legal, social and psychological problems. This paper explores the psychological issues consequent to the use of artificial insemination, in-vitro fertilization and surrogate motherhood.

Pre- and Perinatal Anthropology III: Birth Control, Abortion and Infanticide in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Laughlin, Charles D.
Vol. 9 (1), 1994, 85-102

Many societies act to limit the incidence of pregnancy, birth and infant survival and have done so for centuries. This paper explores the range of conditions around the world's societies associated with such controls, and surveys some of the methods used to maintain control. Such methods include rituals, physical stress, herbal medicines, prescriptive taboos, and infanticide. Theoretical concerns are surveyed.

The Sentient Prenate: What Every Parent Should Know
Chamberlain, David B.
Vol. 9 (1), 1994, 9-32

This paper summarizes the major evidence demonstrating that prenates are 1) sensitive and aware, 2) learn and dream, and 3) are social and communicative. Well-designed research programs in prenatal enrichment confirm the intelligence and receptivity of these babies. The article closes with special resources now available to parents to enhance prenatal bonding and communication.

How to Maximize Human Potential at Birth
Panthuraamphorn, Chairat
Vol. 9 (2), 1994, 117-126

Building on a successful program of prenatal stimulation previously reported, obstetrical routines were altered to provide more continuity with the womb environment. This paper reports both the rationale and specific procedures employed. The goal of the program was to treat the newborn as a person, minimize discomfort during birth, and avoid conditions of possible stress and anxiety. Gentle stimulation included eye-to-eye contact, smiles, skin-to-skin touch, soothing voices, early breast feeding, and enjoyable relations between mother, father, and child.

Predicting the Origins of Post-Partum Depression through the Use of Mental Representations
Trad, Paul V.
Vol. 9 (2), 1994, 127-148

This paper proposes that postpartum depression may be predicted from the expectant mother's representations of her own caregiver. Previewing--a developmental process that predicts maturational change--may enhance the mother's ability to represent adaptive interaction. Previewing techniques may be used to overcome the negative representations associated with postpartum depression, enabling the mother to establish a secure attachment with the infant. The discussion highlights representational deficits that may contribute to postpartum depression and describes how previewing may help resolve it.

Chains of Grief: The Impact of Perinatal Loss on Subsequent Pregnancy
Peterson, Gayle
Vol. 9 (2), 1994, 149-158

This paper identifies women who are at greater risk for medical complications in their pregnancies owing to post traumatic stress resulting from previous perinatal loss. The loss may have been suffered by the woman herself during a past pregnancy, or she may have inherited heightened anxiety from her mother's perinatal loss, when the unresolved grief is transmitted from mother to daughter. Given effective prenatal counseling, perinatal loss issues can be addressed through body-centered hypnosis so that history does not repeat itself.

Female Circumcision: A Lifetime of Suffering
Edwards, Kimberley, A. R.
Vol. 9 (2), 1994, 159-176

This article describes the phenomena, health effects, and cultural factors of the removal of part or all the external genitalia of females still practiced in the Philippines, Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Brazil, Eastern Mexico, Peru, United Arab Emirates, South Yemen, Bahrain, Oman and much of Africa.

The Relevance of the Dread of Being Aborted to Models of Therapy and Models of the Mind, Part I: Case Examples
Sonne, John C.
Vol. 9 (3), 1995, 195-220

This paper describes how positive changes occurred in two male patients when feelings of dread of tunnels, bridges, and interpersonal relationships were found to be transferential derivatives of an underlying dread of being aborted and wishing to be aborted.

Relationships among Stress Anxiety, Type A, and Pregnancy-Related Complications
Kalil, Kathleen M., Gruber, James, E., Conley, Joyce G., & LaGrandeur, Richard M.
Vol. 9 (3), 1995, 221-232

The relationships among stress, state and trait anxiety, Type A personality and antepartum and postpartum health of women and their fetuses/infants were analyzed. A medical/psychosocial questionnaire and two inventories were mailed to a sample of 433 women during each trimester of pregnancy, and their medical records were reviewed to ascertain health problems. Type A and state anxiety were not as strongly related to material or fetal/infant complications as were stressor number, intensity or trait anxiety. Predictors were generally stronger in the latter stages of pregnancy. Results suggest that health during and after pregnancy may be predicted on the basis of psychosocial problems as well as the time period during which the problems occur.

The Relevance of the Dread of Being Aborted to Models of Therapy and Models of the Mind, Part II: Mentation and Communication in the Unborn
Sonne, John C.
Vol. 9 (4), 1995, 257-294

This paper reviews mentation and communication in the unborn using data from neurology, pediatrics, obstetrics, biochemistry, embryology, animal research, infant development, studies of autism, linguistics, etc. This lends credence to the idea that the dread of being aborted has its genesis in an intrauterine trauma involving the threat of being aborted, which is registered, remembered, and transferentially acted out symbolically in post-natal life until analysis connects the presenting symptomatology to the underlying dread of being aborted.