XVI. International ISPPM-Congress

Research in the field of prenatal psychology has extended our life-history back to conception and beyond – right back to our parents' thoughts and plans for a child of their own. Humans are independent beings right from the beginning, not just in biological and medical terms, but also psychologically and socially. The basic anthropological framework therefore needs to be redefined, and the current restricted view of the prenatal period extended beyond merely biological and medical aspects. Pregnancy and birth are an integral part of our life-history, and the neglect of pregnancy and birth by the human sciences is gradually being overcome by the results of prenatal and perinatal psychology and medicine. If the results of memory research are correct, namely that “we are memory”, the new question to be answered is how embryonic and fetal life and experience continue to accompany us in later life. The human and cultural sciences are thus called upon to revise their basic anthropological and psychological assumptions and to include the prenatal period of life and birth in their view of our life-history. If relationships begin long before birth and have a lasting effect on us and our relationships, this has very practical consequences for the way in which we deal with pregnancy and birth, with our children, our partner and ourselves. It also has very general social and ideological consequences, because our basic religious and philosophical assumptions about the world and society are unconsciously shaped by our experiences in our primal home, the womb. These are the foundations of human creativity. In recent years, we have begun to understand these issues and can assume more responsibility for the way we are at home in the world. Specifically, this means that adolescents and young adults need to be supported by a more competent, relationship-based form of parenthood; at the same time, we need to continue exploring the prenatal roots of our individuation and the prenatal backdrop of social life. The congress aims to do this by sharing knowledge about the psychosocial aspects of pregnancy and birth between the various societies in Europe and worldwide, with a special emphasis on contact with the countries of eastern Europe. The ISPPM's 16th International Congress on "The Anthropology and Psychology of Pregnancy and Birth" is designed to provide a forum for the exchange of results and ideas on this topic at an academic and a personal level.

Ludwig Janus M.D.