This article describes research in the area of clinical work with babies from the perspective of the mother’s depression. First the article evaluates the effects of maternal depression and of acute anxiety crises suffered by mothers regarding their newborn babies. Second, the baby’s reactions to its mother’s depression is analyzed, based on the observation that, in contrast to what is usually thought, babies are able to react, defend themselves, and come up with solutions under conditions of intense affective atmospheres, such as depression, anxiety crises or panic.
The author posits the hypothesis that the baby functioning as a “shield against its mother’s anxiety,” minimizing the effects of the anxiety for the mother and for itself. This hypothesis brings up new and important inroads for the clinical work, since it enables new forms of intervention to be carried out directly with babies, thus expanding the horizon of clinical work and bringing up still incipient questions regarding psychopathology and psychoanalytic metapsychology.
Maternal depression; clinical work with babies; anxiety; active drive