Date of Award

Spring 5-16-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA - Master of Arts

Department

Expressive Therapies

Advisor

Meg Chang

Abstract

This thesis reviews the experience of pregnancy in prisons; pregnancy in bonding, attachment, and attunement; and pregnancy in dance movement therapy. Every woman deserves the help and guidance to connect with their baby as much as possible: during pregnancy and after. For women whom are incarcerated, the time to connect is shortened. For most women, they do not have access to their babies after delivery. I have researched the living conditions for women who are pregnant while incarcerated; this includes accommodations, possible health risks, and programs set up for pregnant women. Also researched is the importance to have connections made to baby while pregnant; specifically attunement and bonding. The calming womb technique from family therapy is able to provide tools for mother to use. Dance movement therapy uses verbal and nonverbal tools to attune and bond with their baby also to form this unit. It can aid in the bonding and attunement process through techniques and tools taught to mother during pregnancy. Using tension-flow rhythms from Kestenberg Movement Profile to help attune to their baby’s rhythms in utero can help reduce mother’s anxiety before meeting her baby. Shape-flow rhythms can help alleviate tension on mother’s body and give space for her baby to grow. After birth, dance movement therapy should continue. It can continue to help the bonding process and future attachment style between mother and baby.

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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