Puerperal Pregnancy Psychopathology: The Psychic Space of Unsafe Abortion in a Gabonese Woman

Samuel Mbadinga

doi:doi:10.11648/j.pbs.20180705.11

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Puerperal Pregnancy Psychopathology: The Psychic Space of Unsafe Abortion in a Gabonese Woman

Samuel Mbadinga

Published in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 7, Issue 5)

Received: 30 September 2018 Accepted: 9 October 2018 Published: 18 December 2018

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Abstract

Abortion refers to what is taboo and that affects the sacred, which consists in taking the life of a human being. And many women never or rarely speak about abortion. The Gabonese woman, generally resorts to the etiology of witchcraft to order to justify, on one hand, illegal abortion, often presented as an involuntary supernatural and malefic fact, when the latter is known to those around her and, on the other hand, to explain some secondary sterility that has resulted from unsafe abortions. The purpose of this work is to examine, in the case of Mufune, the archaic level of the psychic investment of the fetus or the embryo as an imaginary object in utero, articulated with the discourse of family persecution because of the difficulties inherent in reproduction for a woman. Abortion, even unsecured, thus refers to feelings and the lived experience of women all of which are part of a specific psychic space. The latter is born with the joint emergence of the desire to have a child, the desire of pregnancy and the desire for maternity which take shape at the moment when the question of the continuation or not of the pregnancy arises, and is instituted with the act of abortion together with all of the psychic effects.

Published in	Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 7, Issue 5)
DOI	10.11648/j.pbs.20180705.11
Page(s)	82-88
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Psychopathology Gravido-puerperale, Psychic Space, Desire to Have a Child, Unsecured Abortion, Impossible Maternity, Imaginary Child, Gabonese Woman

References

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APA Style

Samuel Mbadinga. (2018). Puerperal Pregnancy Psychopathology: The Psychic Space of Unsafe Abortion in a Gabonese Woman. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 7(5), 82-88. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20180705.11

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ACS Style

Samuel Mbadinga. Puerperal Pregnancy Psychopathology: The Psychic Space of Unsafe Abortion in a Gabonese Woman. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2018, 7(5), 82-88. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20180705.11

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AMA Style

Samuel Mbadinga. Puerperal Pregnancy Psychopathology: The Psychic Space of Unsafe Abortion in a Gabonese Woman. Psychol Behav Sci. 2018;7(5):82-88. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20180705.11

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@article{10.11648/j.pbs.20180705.11,
  author = {Samuel Mbadinga},
  title = {Puerperal Pregnancy Psychopathology: The Psychic Space of Unsafe Abortion in a Gabonese Woman},
  journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
  volume = {7},
  number = {5},
  pages = {82-88},
  doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20180705.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20180705.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20180705.11},
  abstract = {Abortion refers to what is taboo and that affects the sacred, which consists in taking the life of a human being. And many women never or rarely speak about abortion. The Gabonese woman, generally resorts to the etiology of witchcraft to order to justify, on one hand, illegal abortion, often presented as an involuntary supernatural and malefic fact, when the latter is known to those around her and, on the other hand, to explain some secondary sterility that has resulted from unsafe abortions. The purpose of this work is to examine, in the case of Mufune, the archaic level of the psychic investment of the fetus or the embryo as an imaginary object in utero, articulated with the discourse of family persecution because of the difficulties inherent in reproduction for a woman. Abortion, even unsecured, thus refers to feelings and the lived experience of women all of which are part of a specific psychic space. The latter is born with the joint emergence of the desire to have a child, the desire of pregnancy and the desire for maternity which take shape at the moment when the question of the continuation or not of the pregnancy arises, and is instituted with the act of abortion together with all of the psychic effects.},
 year = {2018}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Puerperal Pregnancy Psychopathology: The Psychic Space of Unsafe Abortion in a Gabonese Woman
AU  - Samuel Mbadinga
Y1  - 2018/12/18
PY  - 2018
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DO  - 10.11648/j.pbs.20180705.11
T2  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
JF  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
JO  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
SP  - 82
EP  - 88
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-7845
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20180705.11
AB  - Abortion refers to what is taboo and that affects the sacred, which consists in taking the life of a human being. And many women never or rarely speak about abortion. The Gabonese woman, generally resorts to the etiology of witchcraft to order to justify, on one hand, illegal abortion, often presented as an involuntary supernatural and malefic fact, when the latter is known to those around her and, on the other hand, to explain some secondary sterility that has resulted from unsafe abortions. The purpose of this work is to examine, in the case of Mufune, the archaic level of the psychic investment of the fetus or the embryo as an imaginary object in utero, articulated with the discourse of family persecution because of the difficulties inherent in reproduction for a woman. Abortion, even unsecured, thus refers to feelings and the lived experience of women all of which are part of a specific psychic space. The latter is born with the joint emergence of the desire to have a child, the desire of pregnancy and the desire for maternity which take shape at the moment when the question of the continuation or not of the pregnancy arises, and is instituted with the act of abortion together with all of the psychic effects.
VL  - 7
IS  - 5
ER  -

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Author Information

Samuel Mbadinga

Departement of Psychology, the Omar Bongo University, Libreville, Gabon

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APA Style

Samuel Mbadinga. (2018). Puerperal Pregnancy Psychopathology: The Psychic Space of Unsafe Abortion in a Gabonese Woman. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 7(5), 82-88. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20180705.11

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ACS Style

Samuel Mbadinga. Puerperal Pregnancy Psychopathology: The Psychic Space of Unsafe Abortion in a Gabonese Woman. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2018, 7(5), 82-88. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20180705.11

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AMA Style

Samuel Mbadinga. Puerperal Pregnancy Psychopathology: The Psychic Space of Unsafe Abortion in a Gabonese Woman. Psychol Behav Sci. 2018;7(5):82-88. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20180705.11

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.pbs.20180705.11,
  author = {Samuel Mbadinga},
  title = {Puerperal Pregnancy Psychopathology: The Psychic Space of Unsafe Abortion in a Gabonese Woman},
  journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
  volume = {7},
  number = {5},
  pages = {82-88},
  doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20180705.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20180705.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20180705.11},
  abstract = {Abortion refers to what is taboo and that affects the sacred, which consists in taking the life of a human being. And many women never or rarely speak about abortion. The Gabonese woman, generally resorts to the etiology of witchcraft to order to justify, on one hand, illegal abortion, often presented as an involuntary supernatural and malefic fact, when the latter is known to those around her and, on the other hand, to explain some secondary sterility that has resulted from unsafe abortions. The purpose of this work is to examine, in the case of Mufune, the archaic level of the psychic investment of the fetus or the embryo as an imaginary object in utero, articulated with the discourse of family persecution because of the difficulties inherent in reproduction for a woman. Abortion, even unsecured, thus refers to feelings and the lived experience of women all of which are part of a specific psychic space. The latter is born with the joint emergence of the desire to have a child, the desire of pregnancy and the desire for maternity which take shape at the moment when the question of the continuation or not of the pregnancy arises, and is instituted with the act of abortion together with all of the psychic effects.},
 year = {2018}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Puerperal Pregnancy Psychopathology: The Psychic Space of Unsafe Abortion in a Gabonese Woman
AU  - Samuel Mbadinga
Y1  - 2018/12/18
PY  - 2018
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20180705.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.pbs.20180705.11
T2  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
JF  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
JO  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
SP  - 82
EP  - 88
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-7845
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20180705.11
AB  - Abortion refers to what is taboo and that affects the sacred, which consists in taking the life of a human being. And many women never or rarely speak about abortion. The Gabonese woman, generally resorts to the etiology of witchcraft to order to justify, on one hand, illegal abortion, often presented as an involuntary supernatural and malefic fact, when the latter is known to those around her and, on the other hand, to explain some secondary sterility that has resulted from unsafe abortions. The purpose of this work is to examine, in the case of Mufune, the archaic level of the psychic investment of the fetus or the embryo as an imaginary object in utero, articulated with the discourse of family persecution because of the difficulties inherent in reproduction for a woman. Abortion, even unsecured, thus refers to feelings and the lived experience of women all of which are part of a specific psychic space. The latter is born with the joint emergence of the desire to have a child, the desire of pregnancy and the desire for maternity which take shape at the moment when the question of the continuation or not of the pregnancy arises, and is instituted with the act of abortion together with all of the psychic effects.
VL  - 7
IS  - 5
ER  -

Copy | Download