Focus: There are no longer the children (but above all the parents) of the past: a psychoanalytical look at parenthood and perinatal psychology
Vol. 32 No. 1 (2021)
https://doi.org/10.4081/rp.2021.503

We, the Children of COVID. Pregnancy in the Pandemic, as a Pandemic

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Received: 13 December 2020
Accepted: 24 January 2021
Published: 23 April 2021
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Pregnancy, COVID-19, parenthood, pandemic, I-subject, perinatal psychology, stress, prevention, childbirth support.

Authors

Licia Lietti
licia.lietti@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3196-9466
Psychiatrist and psychotherapist. Collaborator of Punto Raf, Milan and member of the Perinatal Area, SIPRe Milan, Italy.
Greta Petrilli
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8174-8886
PhD, Psychologist- Psychotherapist; Member of Area Perinatale-SIPRe Milano; Executive Psychologist at Psychiatry Unit- "Varenna" outpatient service for Perinatal Mental Heatlh, ASST Papa Giovanni XXIII, Bergamo, Italy.
Claudia Maspero
Psychology and developmental Psychotherapist; Perinatal Area, SIPRe Milan, Italy.
Valeria Pirro
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2494-8894
Clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, member of Area Perinatale SIPRe Milano, ASST BRIANZA Ospedale di Vimercate UOSD Psicologia Clinica c/o Centro Diurno Bernareggio UOC Psichiatria, Italy.
Marcello Florita
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8602-4403
Psychotherapist and psychanalyst of SIPRe is the author of two essays on psychoanalysis, "l'intreccio" and "Alice il porcospino e il fenicottero"; he is also curator of the volume "Benessere e cura nell'esperienza perinatale" edited by the Order of Psychologists in Lombardy. He has written a novel, "Come respira una piuma". He has long been a collaborator of Punto Raf and member of SIPRe, referent for the Perinatal Area in SIPRe Milan, and scientific director of the Course on Perinatal Care, Italy.

We were inspired to write this article while conducting parenting support groups in the Perinatal Area of SIPRe Milan"s during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Our aim is to share thoughts about the experience of becoming parents during the outbreak of the pandemic. To this end we examined some common themes, such as the effort required to process and deal with the initial paralysis of thoughts concerning parenthood; we also observed how the pandemic amplified the experiences of the I-subject in the evolution from being a son/daughter to becoming a parent; and last but not least, the ability to transform an unexpected event into a creative opportunity.

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We, the Children of COVID. Pregnancy in the Pandemic, as a Pandemic. (2021). Ricerca Psicoanalitica, 32(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/rp.2021.503

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