Showing titles in Motherhood

When Emma Barnett began her second maternity leave, she realised that despite having been there before, as soon as her first leave had finished, the rose-tinted lenses descended and she had immediately forgotten what the experience was actually like when you’re in it. This collective forgetting, which leads to well-meaning comments such as: ‘enjoy every minute’ and ‘treasure this special time’, is doing a disservice to women, leaving them unprepared for the more complicated reality.

In Dear Minnie, Stacey brings her trademark empathy and investigative skill to an entirely new ‘frontline’, exploring the varied perspectives of mothers of all experiences. Using letters that each mother has written to their child as her starting point, Stacey’s frank, honest, and moving inquiry takes in experiences from pregnancy to birth and beyond, uncovering the messy truths and different emotional journeys women take, as well as the common bonds they all share.

What does a mother do when after ten years of drug and alcohol abuse her son is faced with serious jail time? After all of her family’s attempts to save him have failed, is prison the only solution? She takes on the challenge to travel 1,300 miles to be with him when he is taken into custody. To bear witness to his downfall, to be present, to love him. But must she accept the fate that awaits him? This is a mother’s tale. A true story, told through her eyes, of her journey to save her son, who did not want to be saved.

When newborn baby Felix is found abandoned at a train station, the police launch a desperate search for his mum. It doesn't take long for their inquiries to lead them to Emily. While baby Felix is placed in Maggie's care, the police and Social Services try and work out why Emily, a single mum, who has gone through fertility treatment to get pregnant, has suddenly resorted to abandoning her much longed-for child. But it's only when Maggie wins her trust that Emily reveals the extent of her secret. Can Maggie help a desperate mother and her baby reunite?

Tressa Middleton made UK history when she became Britain's youngest mum in 2006 aged just 12 years and eight months. Her case provoked shock and outrage - but the truth behind the headlines was far sadder than anyone could ever have imagined. Born into a life of poverty and neglect, Tressa was forced to grow up fast when was she taken into care at just four years old. She was returned to her mother's chaotic world, but by the age of seven, she was being abused by her own brother and at 11 years old she fell pregnant with his child. For years she kept his dark secret in an attempt to hold her family together until the truth threatened to destroy her completely.

Expert hypnobirthing teacher and founder of The Positive Birth Company, Siobhan Miller has made it her mission to change the way women around the world approach and experience birth. Through her teaching she seeks to educate and empower women—and their birth partners—so that they can enjoy amazing and positive birth experiences, however they choose to bring their babies into the world. Siobhan debunks common myths about hypnobirthing and explains why she believes it can make every type of birth a better experience—from a water birth at home to an unplanned caesarean in theatre.

Can women have it all? What does it mean to be a woman and a mother in the modern age? In this passionate, funny and fierce polemic, Paloma Faith delves deep into the issues that face women today, from puberty and sexual awakenings, to battling through the expectations of patriarchy and the Supermum myth.

Amanda Owen has been seen by millions on ITV's The Dales, living a life that has almost gone in today's modern world, a life ruled by the seasons and her animals. She is a farmer's wife and shepherdess, living alongside her husband, Clive, and seven children at Ravenseat, a 2,000 acre sheep hill farm at the head of Swaledale in North Yorkshire. It's a challenging life but one she loves.

For Christian parents, there is no greater joy than seeing their children learn to walk with the Lord. And there is no greater fear than that their children will walk away from God. After serving together in pastoral ministry for 40 years, Phil and Diane Comer know those hopes and fears well. Thirty-seven years ago, they became parents themselves. And like all new parents, they were intimidated and unsure about how to take on the task of spiritually training their young children.

During pregnancy, childbirth, and early motherhood, women undergo a far-reaching physiological, psychological and social metamorphosis. In this ground-breaking, deeply personal investigation, acclaimed journalist and author Lucy Jones brings to light the emerging concept of 'matrescence'. Drawing on new research across various fields - neuroscience and evolutionary biology; psychoanalysis and existential therapy; sociology, economics and ecology - Jones shows how the changes in the maternal mind, brain and body are far more profound, wild and enduring than we have been led to believe.

At 35, Mika Suzuki is struggling. She's been fired (again). Her last relationship went up in flames. Her fervently traditional mother is perpetually disappointed in her. And now, she's had a phone call from 16-year-old Penny Calvin. The baby she reluctantly gave up for adoption when she was just a teenager herself. Mika is desperate to meet her girl. But she barely feels like she can take care of herself. Is she ready to show Penny who her mother really is?

The moment Diane Burke, an author and mother of two grown sons, received an unexpected certified letter in the mail, she had no idea her life would be shaken to its core. Memories of a past she had buried more than forty years ago suddenly resurfaced and she wasn't prepared to deal with them. Steve Orlandi, happily married, father of two and step-father of three, was living the typical middle class American life. But since the age of eight, when he discovered he was adopted, he had led that life dealing with inner questions about his self-identity and genetic history.

“The kid was objectively a tiny worm, even worse, a worm with my nose.” Welcome to Sarah Hoover’s unflinching take on motherhood and its expectations in which the beatific narrative women have been fed—one of immediate connection to your child followed by a joyful path of maternal discovery—turns out to be not quite true. In The Motherload, Hoover provides a candid, funny, and sobering look at the journey women undertake as expectant mothers and wives from the early days of pregnancy through labor and beyond.

With Mindful Birthing, Nancy Bardacke, nurse-midwife and mindfulness teacher, lays out her innovative program for pregnancy, childbirth, and beyond. Drawing on groundbreaking research in neuroscience, mindfulness meditation, and mind/body medicine, Bardacke offers practices that will help you find calm and ease during this life-changing time, providing lifelong skills for healthy living and wise parenting.

What do you do when the unthinkable happens? Elle Wright had an admittedly easy pregnancy - her scans went well, she and her baby were healthy throughout, and in May 2016, she and her husband welcomed their son, Teddy, into the world. Just a few hours after giving birth, they woke to find a nurse holding a cold and unresponsive Teddy, who had stopped breathing during the night. The happiest day of Elle's life had turned into every parent's worst nightmare, and she had to let her beautiful baby boy go.

When Amy Nickell left university, she managed to nab herself a real -life paid job as a celebrity reporter in London town. She literally got paid to ask Robert Downey Jr out for Nando's while living with her gay best friend, their Harry Styles cardboard cutout and their pet toad, Snoop Frog, and drank prosecco way before it was in fashion. Things were good, they were fun, they definitely weren't serious. However, that life took a very grown-up, very serious detour when Amy found herself expecting the unexpected and pregnant age 24.

When Cathy is told about Melody’s terrible childhood, she is sure she’s heard it all before. But it isn’t long before she feels there is more going on than she or the social services are aware of. Although Melody is angry at having to leave her mother, she also worries about her obsessively - far more than is usual. Amanda, Melody’s mother, is also angry and takes it out on Cathy at contact, which again is something Cathy has experienced before. When Amanda misses contact, it is assumed she has forgotten, but nothing could have been further from the truth.

Modern motherhood is insane. We’re expected to parent perfectly, bounce back, enjoy every moment, forge ahead at work and keep smiling through all the endless expectations – all whilst forgetting about ourselves.

For many years, Glennon Doyle denied her discontent. Then, while speaking at a conference, she looked at a woman across the room and fell instantly in love. Three words flooded her mind: There. She. Is. At first, Glennon assumed these words came to her from on high but soon she realised they had come to her from within. This was the voice she had buried beneath decades of numbing addictions and social conditioning. Glennon decided to let go of the world’s expectations of her and reclaim her true untamed self.

À celles qui subissent leur relation avec leur mère mais qui sont conditionnées depuis l'enfance à croire que le problème vient d'elles. À celles qui angoissent devant un appel entrant qui affiche « maman ». À celles qui culpabilisent par peur d'être « une fille ingrate ». À celles qui ont sacrifié leur identité profonde pour répondre aux attentes de leur mère. À celles qui se sentent comme une petite fille blessée malgré leur apparence de femme puissante... Je m'adresse à vous.