15

The loss of a child through medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) constitutes a specific form of grief and is a cause for worry about the consequences on the following pregnancy. This research studies the experiences of shame and guilt during the ensuing pregnancy. The material comes from a psychoanalytically-based clinical protocol in the hospital environment. The researcher carries out three semi-structured interviews during the pregnancy. Shame and guilt can clearly be found during pregnancies after an MTP. The intensity and the type of expression of these two movements can either limit or contribute to the cathexis of the dead baby and of the living one. Shame and guilt can be understood as the two poles of a continuous gradient. Their study in the context of a pregnancy following a medically terminated one makes it possible to offer pertinent semiological and psychopathological markers in the framework of primary and secondary prevention of troubles in parenthood and in early relational disharmonies.