Pregnancy represents an attempt to return to one's own origin, to the place we come from, to the time that precedes our existence as human beings.
The nine months of gestation, in fact, condense the great animal stages of human development, the millions of years it took to move from aquatic life to life on land, from fish to reptile, then to mammal, and from mammal to human being.
It is interesting to note, in this regard, that during the first two weeks after fertilization, there is no visible difference to the naked eye between an animal embryo and a human one!
This regression to the fetal state, which condenses the stages of our own origin, can show itself in the pregnant woman through more or less evident signs, for example in her relationship with water.
Here is how some pregnant women intuit, without being consciously aware of it, that pregnancy has brought them back to the fetal state in which they were immersed in amniotic fluid, an experience lived with more or less ambivalence: «Ever since I got pregnant, all I want is water, to drink, to immerse myself in and stay in for hours; … when I was at the seaside I was always in the water, like a fish!… even the baby in the womb, where the amniotic fluid stands in for the great ocean, is like a little fish… and after birth it keeps that trait, since it can stay underwater without needing to breathe…; … ever since I got pregnant I often dream of swimming, the sea, lakes, pools, or rivers… always different places, but always water…; … usually I take showers, but since the start of the pregnancy I prefer to stay in the bathtub, even for hours if I have the time!; … since the pregnancy started, something has changed in my relationship with water: it bothers me to immerse myself in it, I even take quick showers just to avoid the contact».
Another aspect of pregnancy also points to this regression to the fetal state: a heightened sense of smell, which for many women becomes so intense and bothersome that it leads them to avoid certain places. Some typical statements from pregnant women speak precisely to this: «I realized I was pregnant when I noticed an unusual sensitivity to certain smells, especially coffee, which really bothered me; … when I was pregnant I could «smell» the garbage bins from several blocks away; … sometimes I would suddenly catch the scent of flowers; … I could no longer stand the smell of the furniture in my own home, which only I could smell!»
During intrauterine life, the fetus seems able to analyze, through smell, the molecular composition of the amniotic fluid it continuously drinks, to notice its variations, which are linked to the mother's emotional state, and to connect them to the sense of pleasure or displeasure it feels. These are primal sensations that nonetheless remain inscribed in its psyche: circumstances in adult life can reactivate them, sometimes bringing back, intensely and inexplicably, experiences felt within the mother's womb.