DELUSION OF MATERNITY

A few case reports on the delusion of pregnancy can be found in the pu blished literature. However, the delusion of maternity, a delusional c onviction of the patient that she is a mother of one or more children, has not yet been studied closely. The author describes the case of a 62-year-old childless patient with a diagnosis of chronic paranoid sch izophrenia. She developed a delusion of maternity? persistent for many years. This markedly influenced her behaviour.