Prenatal Intersubjectivity in Indonesian Culture: Maternal–Fetal Soul Communication as an Embodied Practice among 30 Pregnant Women at Santo Borromeus Hospital, Bandung – Indonesia
Journal of Cultural Analysis and Social Change December 11, 2025 Maximus Mujur, Susanne Dida, Johanes Cornelius Mose et al.
Prenatal intersubjectivity—the inner connection, intuitive communication, and emotional resonance between mothers and fetuses—is an embodied process of sensemaking shaped by cultural frameworks, not a supernatural phenomenon. In a cultural-phenomenological study of 30 pregnant women in Bandung, Indonesia, bodily sensations such as fetal movements and physiological changes were interpreted as meaningful communication through religious values, beliefs about life-essence, family roles, and local pregnancy narratives. This interpretive process enriches maternal emotional well-being, strengthens psychological readiness for childbirth, and enhances prenatal attachment. The article proposes two theoretical models: the Prenatal Embodied Intersubjectivity Model (PEIM-Expanded) and the Cultural Intuitive Communication Pathway (CICP), explaining how body–emotion–meaning interconnections and cultural values facilitate maternal–fetal communication.