Neurological and Psychological Deficits of Asphyxia Neonatorum

Collected Papers: Through Paediatrics to PsychoAnalysis. By D. W. WINNICOTT. (Pp. ix+350; 20 figures. 35s.) London: Tavistock Publications. 1958. Many paediatricians on both sides of the Atlantic are concerning themselves more and more with the child's view of the world, and in particular with the ways in which the developing human organism adapts with varying success to his crises and anxieties. When this experiential aspect of child development is studied there are apt to be consequences for the observer of a rather unique and personal kind: the realization that some of the child's problems are still active in ourselves. This is among the most significant of the problems facing contemporary paediatrics. What are the repercussions on training of the need for an awareness of the factors underlying the behaviour of children and the paediatrician's work on himself which this entails? This is one of the major themes of Dr. Winnicott's book. Together with his three other recent publications (Winnicott, 1957a; 1957b; 1958) this book should be available wherever paediatrics and the training of paediatricians are seriously discussed. Barbara Korsch's admirable summary of the relevant American literature should also be added to this list (Korsch, 1958). The lucidity and freshness of approach with which Dr. Winnicott writes need no emphasis here. Many of the articles are among the rather rare British contributions to the classics of paediatric psychiatry, e.g. Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena.