From Perinatal Loss Trauma to Parenthood: Experience in a Maternity Hospital

Abstract Working in a maternity hospital involves listening to the mobilizing effects of a baby’s arrival on parents' psychic condition. Waiting for a baby is also a parenthood-building time. The aim of the current study is to address the challenge of parenthood in perinatal loss cases. Parents face the real twice when it comes to stillborn babies, or babies who are born alive and live for a short period-of-time, since the baby’s arrival is also a farewell. We herein return to the concept of trauma in psychoanalysis to address some aspects of perinatal loss impact on parenthood.