We stand in the midst of a critical change, brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The whole world, as we have known it, is in transition. Day by day, we witness the death of the old way of being, while the new is a little hazy to see and embrace. Families and especially parents have seen their everyday life go chaotic.
The new reality demands that they re-visit their parenting mode, understand the essence of it all and lead themselves and their children, still in gestation or already born and growing up, to a new homeostasis. As in all transition phases, the primal trauma is re-activated. Exhaustion, anger, isolation, social-distancing, fear of death, has become the daily menu in an atmosphere of mistrust, insecurity and loss. But this is also the time to heal, regain the lost life energy and re-create what has always been possible.
Rev. Dr Ray Zammit, Head of Department of Moral Theology at the Faculty of Theology, Prof. Jean Calleja Agius from the Department of Anatomy at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and Ms Claire Zerafa from the Perinatal Mental Health Unit at Mater Dei Hospital, have recently published a book chapter in a new book entitled: Change: Birthing and Parenting at Times of Crisis.
This book, written by 20 experts in the fields of Prenatal Psychology, Medicine and Health is the navigator that leads each one of us to the space of using critical changes as a tool to heal our prenatal trauma, reconnect with who we are, connect with and support our children as we make our next step in this brave new world.
Book reference: Gouni O, Turner RG J, Turner T, 2021, Change: Birthing and Parenting at Times of Crisis, cosmoanelixis, Athens, ISBN-13: 979-8705980154