So daughters being mothers: Report of two observations of infants and their mothers using the Esther Bick observation method

Abstract

This article aims to report and analyze primitive maternal aspects in the observations of babies with their mothers, using the Esther Bick Method. Following the moment of contact and the contract established with the families, it was agreed that the weekly visits would take place, online through the cell phone camera of the observers, on a previously defined day and time. So, the observers started the journey that lasted one year and a few months. The development of the baby was observed in relation to the caregiver and the environment. In the supervisions, we discuss the therapeutic potential of the method, based on the container function of the observer, and we highlight transformations in their role and in the caregiver-baby duo. In this work we present extracts from two observations: the report of baby Zara and her mother Nina, and baby Manu and her mother Anny. The observations demonstrate the empathetic posture of the observers who, through a silent and subtle act, offered support to the mother-baby duo. This was evident in feeling comfortable in the presence of observers, in knowing your baby. However, attention was paid to both, young mothers, even from different origins, still remaining at the expense of the family. It seemed to us that there were so many daughters siendo mothers, but they did not impidió to maintain their places in the constellation of motherhood.