International Congress
Neurosciences, Prenatal and Postnatal Violence, and Legal and Medico-Legal Protection: Towards Integrated Protection for Mothers, Unborn Children, and Children
OMAEP attended the International Congress on Neurosciences, Prenatal and Postnatal Violence, and Legal and Medico-Legal Protection: Towards Integrated Protection for Mothers, Unborn Children, and Children, which was held at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 3 December 2025.
It was organized by PSAF (Scientific Association of Medico-Legal Health Professionals and Insurers of Italy), in partnership with ASMI Spain, and with the collaboration of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance, APRODEME (Association for the Defense of Minors), and Conecta Perinatal, of which ANEP Spain is a member.
The congress was held both in person and online, with simultaneous translation into English, French, and Spanish. It brought together a significant group of scientists from different countries and continents, specialized in various fields: physicians, clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, clinical and forensic neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, psychotherapists, professors, and professionals from the legal field, including lawyers and a juvenile judge. The congress program attached contains all the information on the objectives, speakers, professions, and related details.
It is particularly important to highlight the Italian contribution, which took place during three of the four sessions of the congress, and the Spanish contribution, notably with the presence of Pascual Palau Subiela, president of Conecta Perinatal, Alain Grégoire, president of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance, and B. Golse, president of the Institut de l’enfance (France).
All the presentations were of a high level and marked by great scientific rigor, but they were also delivered with remarkable sensitivity, quality, and human warmth.
This congress was extremely enriching and allowed us to confirm, once again, what great pioneers such as Verny, Chamberlain, Relier, Odent, Lipton, and others have reflected in their writings and conferences for several decades. It was especially interesting to hear, for the first time in an institution such as the European Parliament, from the perspective of neurosciences, about the effect of prenatal and perinatal violence on brain development, as well as about stress and its negative impact on pregnant women and babies. All the speakers generally agreed on the importance of the factor of “prevention.”
In 2023, 19,000 women in Italy went to emergency departments because of domestic violence, underlining the negative implications of pain on the prenatal baby and the importance of educating for affectivity. Creating emotional bonds of love can change everything.
When the unborn baby or child is exposed to violence and grows up in fear, he or she remains in a state of alert. The task, therefore, is not only to repair, but also to give meaning to life. It is important to prioritize care over academic achievement. It is necessary to care for life, and not merely manage it, and to develop the ability to recognize the other as a person.
Protecting the pregnant woman means protecting the baby. The protection of the child begins with the unborn baby. The child’s health depends on the environment in which the mother lives.
If a pregnant woman is subjected to violence, this later affects the baby’s posture: scoliosis and vision problems associated with scoliosis. Posture can affect brain development. Trauma and family secrets affect posture and the expression of the mouth and eyes, and are transmitted from generation to generation, as psychogenealogy teaches us. That is why it is important to develop prevention strategies. Prevention is necessary.
The need to provide pregnant women with tools such as mindfulness and meditation was also discussed, since these can help them go through this period and thus counter anxiety and distressing thoughts that increase cortisol levels, reducing anxiety, integrating emotions, and bringing calm.
Protecting the mother from violence means protecting future generations!
The issue of the right to health of the unborn child and the child within the legal framework was also addressed. The unborn child has the same rights (life, health, dignity) to physical and psychological integrity as the born person. If visible children are not protected, those who are not visible are protected even less.
Neurosciences demonstrate that the child who has suffered prenatal or perinatal violence is to be considered a victim.
As for the Spanish contribution, it focused mainly on preventing violence linked to the separation of mothers and children in vulnerable families. In this sense, Pascual Palau, president of Conecta Perinatal, stated that it is necessary to generate new scientific, social, and legal perspectives that promote in Europe and the rest of the world the best possible care for families in difficulty and their babies. He stated that if we continue to separate mothers constantly because of their past problems, we will continue to transmit this problem from generation to generation, and it will not be possible to remedy the situation.
This was also the perspective of lawyer Vila Torres, who stated that this situation is creating a problem in Spain. Only 10% of these separations are justified, out of the 60,000 cases of removal due to abandonment. He concluded by saying that the child must occupy an important place in society, that attention must focus on the child during the first year of life, and that it is necessary to invest in pregnancy and in the first three years of life.
B. Golse, president of the Institut de l’enfance, explained that early separations constitute a risk and that the effects of mother-baby separation are devastating.
The last intervention from the Spanish group was that of juvenile judge Elena Crespo, who stated that the growth of a child must take place within the family, that mother-child separations should occur only in justified situations, and that separations often lead to a violation of the rule of law. She concluded by saying that the priority must be to favor the development of a human being in a healthy emotional environment, so as to form citizens and leaders who help us move beyond wars and other calamities. Love is what society needs in order to live in freedom. A society with a healthy childhood will be a healthy society.
The final intervention of the congress was delivered by the Italian doctor Mariarosaria Greco, who stated at the end of her presentation that prevention strategies must be established to help the mother and baby during the gestational period. She concluded by saying:
“This must be integrated into schools; this information must be passed on to them.”
To conclude, we would like to congratulate the organizers of this event, because it made it possible to bring to the European Parliament all this knowledge about the importance of the prenatal and perinatal period, and the need to preserve and protect it for the future of coming generations. May what was presented there resonate in as many consciences as possible, so that the crucial importance of the prenatal and perinatal period may spread and become a hope for the good of humanity.
OMAEP Board of Directors
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