Motherhood is full of agony, but its songs are deemed “nice”
I’d always shied away from writing sentimental songs about having babies for fear of seeming too soppy.
ByMotherhood
The trauma ward
Each year thousands of women suffer the nightmare of a traumatic birth. I was one of them.
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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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