From the background of her experience as psychotherapist with pregnant patients the author describes groupdynamic, socialenergetic and psychodynamic aspects of pregnancy and birth. Pregnancy and birth are closely connected with an important growth of identity that confronts parents with their inner and outer lifesituation in the past, present and future. Pregnancy and birth as boundary experiences, growth of identity and a creative process stimulate constructive, destructive and deficient aspects of a person's structure that can be accepted, understood and dealt with by a protecting surrounding group. The appraoch of Dynamic Psychiatry deals with all dimensions of body, mind and soul of the mother, the father and the unborn child and includes prevention, aspects of prenatal psychology and the influence of social factors. The author quotes an empiric study by Rottmann (1974) according to which only 33% of the mothers were able to identify themselves with their role in a positive way. 67% of the mothers suffered from psychic illnesses of different kinds, had numerous and severe complications during pregnancy and birth and unconsciously did not accept the unborn child. The author refers to studies by Rank, Groddeck and especially G.H. Graber who have widened the psychodynamic understanding of pregnancy and birth and have stressed the importance of prenatal life. While Groddeck deals with the psychosomatic aspects of pregnancy and birth in relation to the unconscious of the mother and the father, Rank and Graber put more weight upon the importance for the child and pre-natal psychology. These aspects are integrated in Ammon's humanstructural group concept, stressing the importance of pregnancy and birth as a creative process in groups and the preventive work with the parents and later the new family. According to Ammon constructive socialenergetic and groupdynamic relations between the pregnant woman, the father and the surrounding group result in a creative attitude of acceptance towards the unborn child and the identity-growth of the parents and consequently in a haelthy development of the growing child. In two case studies the author decribes the importance of pregnancy for the ego-structure and group dynamics in a psychotherapeutic group. Over a period of several years this therapeutic group was concerned with pregnancy and birth, which caused deep emotions and reflexions. As a result it became clear that the former pregnancies of a female patient were always due to her resistance and defense of anxiety before necessary steps towards identity, but could also be understood as attempts of a self-cure by saving herself out of the >>folie a deux<< with her husband, whenever this was at risk. A male patient in this group became father at the end of his therapy and this could be related with important steps in his personal development. In this time he could get rid of his destructive-symbiotic tendencies towards his mother, the therapeutic group and his girl-friend. Finally the author points out that pregnancy must be embedded into and supported by a group of committed people who help to integrate medical treatment, unconscious processes, pre-natal and anthropological dimensions as well as the question of identity of the parents. Consequently she postulates a new and more humanistic approach to pregnancy, birth and child breeding in our society.
