Reprinted from JOPPPAH 23(2) Winter, 2008. This article investigates the relationship between traumatic events from conception to birth and Schizoid Personality Disorder, Dysfunction, and Deprivation.
Updated Author Bio:
Shirley Ward works as a Pre and Perinatal Psychotherapist at the Amethyst Resource Centre For Human Development in the Republic of Ireland. Her book, Fractals from the Womb, published in 2014 is to be republished shortly. She may be contacted on her website www.shirleyward.org and on her email shirley@shirleyward.org
Maternal-fetal attachment (MFA) is a process in which a mother-to-be engages in affiliative behaviors with her unborn child. MFA has a bearing on the dyad’s future mother-infant attachment, which in turn is necessary for adequate emotional and physical growth of the baby. Women with severe mental illness are likely to be at risk for impaired MFA.