The first to talk about the trauma of birth was the Austrian psychoanalyst Otto Rank, whose central idea is that the mere fact of being born already causes trauma in the human being, the first of which, that is, a sudden separation of the mother and the sudden transition from a fully protected environment to a much more hostile environment.
Otto Rank considered that the trauma of birth is the first chapter of neurosis and that it places us in the realm of the human, that is, the realm of the impossible, which gives rise to an essential anguish that will accompany us throughout our lives.
- “They say that every person is born twice.
- The second is when you earn your place in a clan forever?-Sam Worthington-.
It is a fact that the baby suffers at birth, the trauma at birth is also a concept approached by medicine, even if it does so from an anatomical and physiological point of view, Otto Rank’s theory goes much further and proposes this initial trauma as the main factor that defines our psychic life. His thoughts are a source of controversy to this day.
One of the sources of controversy surrounding birth trauma is the idea that the baby’s brain is not yet sufficiently developed to record experiences as trauma, in the strict sense of the word. Certainly, he suffers at birth, but for many he does not give rise to a determination of psychic life.
However, there are studies that address very complex psychic phenomena of fetal life, one of them was that carried out by Nilsson, Rottmann and Lukesch, who studied the intrauterine life of fetuses whose mothers did not wish to become pregnant, so they found an obvious relationship between these types of mothers and babies who, at birth, had the following behaviors:
These researchers concluded that the mother’s uterus is not a neutral paradise, the fetus is physiologically stimulated by the mother, because she perceives physiological changes in her, all of this will have an impact on her behavior. Therefore, it would not be far-fetched to think that inside the uterus is also the seed of later behaviors.
Otto Rank puts the source of anguish in the trauma of birth. Should we remember that word? Anxiety? Does it come from the root of the word?Angustus?narrow in Latin. The first difficulty faced by humans at birth is precisely to cross the vaginal canal, whose main characteristic is precisely its narrowness.
Researchers say that when birth trauma is very severe, a person experiences similar feelings both in adult life and at birth, this is the case for those who experience unexplained tachycardia, perceived headaches such as high pressure on the body. skull and choking sensations, among other symptoms. These are all sensations typical of panic attacks.
On the other hand, Otto Rank also sees a strong emotional component in the separation of the child from his mother, so the trauma of birth would not only be limited to the physical sensations felt, but also to the loss of an ideal state. According to Rank, this marks us and makes us particularly susceptible to all losses in general.
The trauma of birth has caused one of the biggest disturbances in the history of psychoanalysis. Otto Rank was in fact one of Freud’s favorite disciples, but Rank’s thesis challenged Freud’s central concept that the Oedipus complex was the founding fact of psychic life. disagreement has irretrievably distanced them.
Otto Rank’s theory of trauma at birth was not widespread enough; however, it is accepted by several psychoanalysts, psychologists and doctors involved. In fact, many advocates of Rank’s work believe that therapeutic work is like a return to birth, overcoming this initial trauma. .
Clearly, Freud’s thesis is stronger. Now we also know that during prenatal life and the first months of life, even if the nervous system is not yet fully developed, experiences leave traces that endure and shape the way humans are and behave.