The psychological interpretation of clinical pathology in pregnancy: a continuity hypothesis

João Justo

This paper focuses on the psychological interpretation of obstetric pathology. Several investigations have demonstrated the existence of important links between emotional functioning of pregnant women and different pathologies, as well as problems during delivery. The psychological understanding of such phenomena often points to inner conflicts that pregnant women are unable to deal with or to express.

We are raising a continuity hypothesis underlining the observation that women suffering from different obstetric pathologies may be considered as psychologically similar and suffering from a continuum of related emotional factors, having difficulty in expressing their problems. According to this hypothesis, what characterizes the different pathologies is the moment when the emotional burden becomes too heavy and psychological conflicts are expressed by current physiological functioning.

Obstetric problems occur at distinct moments in the course of pregnancy. We can describe the onset and process of the specific obstetric dysfunction each woman suffers. It remains unexplained why some women submerge under pathology at the beginning of pregnancy, some in the middle and, some only near the end of pregnancy. There is a strong probability that the best answer to this question lies in the patient's resources for dealing with the distinct demands of psychological development that parallel pregnancy.

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