Representations Concerning Motherhood in Postpartum Depression Context

The present study investigated the representations concerning motherhood in the context of postpartum depression. The study sample was composed by two mothers referred to a brief parent-infant psychotherapy due to depression during the first year of their daughters' life. Interviews of evaluation carried out before psycotherapy were analyzed according to four interpretative axes of the motherhood constellation proposed by Stern (1997): life-growth; primary relatedness; supporting matrix; and identity reorganization. In the stories of both mothers there were representations concerning the feeling of not being capable to take care of their baby after birth, of being little supported by their husbands, as well as a reevaluation of the relationship with their own mothers and spouses. It was verified that the representations revealed a close association between their past conflicts and the current interaction with the husband and with the baby.