by Sabrina Ginesi

Created on: February 22, 2010   Last Updated: March 19, 2010

Winnicott outlined good enough mothering in terms of attachment, I will attempt to outline the importance of this bonding and how it impacts on the developing infant. Deficiencies in care in the ‘absolute dependency’ stage appear in the therapeutic space, I will also attempt to explain how this manifestation presents itself.

Our first attachment is crucial; it acts as a prototype for all our later relationships, and typically takes place with the mother. Some developmentalists believe attachment actually begins prior to entering the world, as the umbilical cord physically attaches child and mother. This undeniable attachment supplies security, nourishment and constant contact between mother and foetus. Some insist an emotional connection commences in-utero, claiming unborn babies can hear mother’s voice, sensing the reassuring calm her tone reflects, and even delights of her touch as light sensations of her strokes on its little hands and feet, as they appear on her abdomen. This in-utero experience provides the sense of belonging and security, so when the helpless newborn arrives into the world, is it any wonder this attachment needs to be substituted.

The primary care giver, typically the mother, is able to fill this role providing she feels secure and loved in relation to the father, whose role is to provide emotional and financial security for her. Her feeling attitude, termed ‘primary maternal preoccupation’ is acquired as pregnancy advances and slowly diminishes as the baby grows up and out of her. The importance of this bonding comprises the foundation of mental health in the baby, and is dependent on the quality of the symbiotic relationship with the mother.

Winnicott pioneered the concept of the "good enough mother," one which was liberating to mothers everywhere. Winnicot sees the key role of the 'good enough' mother as authentic adaptation to the infants needs, thus giving it a sense of 'omnipotence', and the warmth of being connected with the mother. We have an innate tendency towards development yet we do not witness this natural growth unless conditions are good enough, and part of our difficulty is the description of the good enough conditions’ (Winnicott, 1965; p5). With these considerations he categorises three stages where maternal functioning is necessary to be good enough; holding, handling and object-presenting. It is not necessary to be perfect, simply to provide for the infants most basic physical

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