The trauma ward
Each year thousands of women suffer the nightmare of a traumatic birth. I was one of them.
ByMotherhood
Leslie Jamison’s Splinters captures the paradoxes of motherhood
This intimate memoir explores the contradictions of being a parent, a partner and an artist – singly, and all at…
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Motherhood, the most political experience of my life
I thought my husband and I were equal in our social freedoms and status. Then I became a mother.
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The Eternal Daughter is a haunting without ghosts
A protean Tilda Swinton completely inhabits the roles of both mother and daughter.
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The maternity unit is no place for a culture war
Britain’s maternity services are underfunded, understaffed and divided by an ideological battle over the best way to give birth.
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There will be blood
Motherhood is the most profound metamorphosis most women will go through. Why is this process so overlooked?
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Why young mothers terrify me
I want to have children – so why does getting pregnant fill me with fear?
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From Max Porter to Xiaolu Guo: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring All the Houses I’ve Ever Lived In by Kieran Yates and Uproar by Alice Loxton.
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Mothering Sunday reminds us the Church still has a role in our communities
What is it that gives communities such a sense of relationship with a building that they are likely rarely to…
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The feminist case against progress
From sex-positivity to abortion, liberal advances have dehumanised women, argues Mary Harrington – but “nature” is not always as kind as…
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Why I hate Mother’s Day
On no other day of the year are mums placed under so much pressure to behave “like a mum”. And…
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Leah Hazard Q&A: “Kindness, or even just civility, costs nothing”
The midwife and author on reproductive justice, Scottish winters and the healing power of Strictly Come Dancing.
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The other side of the gas and air maternity scandal
Amid the righteous distress of pregnant women, we mustn’t forget that midwives are women too.
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Childcare costs are failing mothers and the economy
New figures show the cost of full-time childcare has reached £15,000, which could be pushing thousands more women out of…
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My elderly mother, in hospital with a broken pelvis, is scandalising the staff
“What are you going to ask me about now?” said my mother to the nurse assessing her. “My sex life?”
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Expensive childcare is forcing women back to the 1950s
Slowly but surely, women are being put back into the home.
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Why do hospitals treat mothers like vessels?
NHS Lothian’s policy of only providing meals to breastfeeding mums is devoid of humanity.
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The real reason women aren’t exercising
Gender inequality is a major public health issue.
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Mumsnet’s founder Justine Roberts: “It is a place where women can speak the truth”
The parenting forum has become a powerful political force, and has been repeatedly accused of transphobia. Its CEO explains why…
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