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Early Pregnancy Loss pp 433–440Cite as

Recurrent abortion: the role of psychotherapy

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Abstract

Interest and research in the psychological aspects of spontaneous abortion was initiated by Javert in 1947, who found that 19% of women with recurrent abortion had psychological disorders.(1) During the following decade psychological factors in women who aborted habitually were thoroughly studied by Javert’s group in New York(2,3) and by another multidisciplinary group in Nova Scotia.(4) These investigations focused primarily on the personality of the women. The New York group found that the subjects with recurrent abortion showed remarkable similarities with respect to underlying personality characteristics and in their relationship to their family members. Their mothers were generally found to be the dominant parental figure, making the patients intensely motherdependent, while their fathers were more anonymous and “ineffective”, often lost to the patient during her childhood either through death, divorce or alcoholism.

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Authors
  1. B. Stray-Pedersen
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  2. S. Stray-Pedersen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Northern General Hospital, Herries Road, Sheffield, S5 7AU, UK

    Frank Sharp MD, FRCOG

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, St Mary’s Hospital, Praed Street, London, W2 1PG, UK

    Richard W. Beard MB, BChir(Cantab), MD, FRCOG

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© 1988 The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

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Stray-Pedersen, B., Stray-Pedersen, S. (1988). Recurrent abortion: the role of psychotherapy. In: Sharp, F., Beard, R.W. (eds) Early Pregnancy Loss. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-1658-5_60

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-1658-5_60

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-1660-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-1658-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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