Sharing Mother’s Stories
- by Ashley Brenninkmeijer -
I believe in the healing power of sharing stories, in making mother’s both seen and heard, especially given the reluctance of medical institutions in seeing the whole birthing person and family units.
2020 has been a time of life-changing isolation for everyone, no question. However, the support and healthcare infrastructure for birthing people and new families has been completely forgotten this year. In the past few months, life has returned to “normal” with uk restaurants and beauty salons etc. reopening...but not for the maternity care sector. Birth partners still can’t come to scans, appointments or for most of the birth, if at all. And postnatally, it’s an island. To let that sink in: you can get a pint or your roots touched up as the government has continually adapted guidelines for the economy but you can’t have your partner come (from the same household) to your 20 week scan where you have to hold your breath alone as the sonographer breaks the news of the health of your baby. Women, babies and families have been forgotten. It’s not ok, and it’s been incredibly emotional for me as a pregnant woman in the middle of a pandemic. I so desperately have wanted to hear fellow mothers’ birth stories here in the UK for over four year since I first fell pregnant, and now especially in the time of Covid, that need has only been amplified. So I’m doing something about it and starting this podcast. Maternity care has been forgotten in the UK but we still have our voices.
“Birth Matters... It matters because it is the way we all begin our lives outside of our source, our mother's bodies. It's the means from which we enter and feel our first impression of the wider world. For each mother, it is an event that shakes and shapes her to her innermost core. Women's perceptions about their bodies and their babies' capabilities will be deeply influenced by the care they receive around the time of birth.”
— Ina May Gaskin
“Why in the world do the insurance companies get to be the boss of birth? That's what I want to know.”
— Also Ina May Gaskin
“What I love about stories the most is the power they have to teach us of possibilities that might not occur to us without them.”
— Ina May Gaskin
“A society that places a low value on its mothers and the process of birth will suffer an array of negative repercussions for doing so. Good beginnings make a positive difference in the world, so it is worth our while to provide the best possible care for mothers and babies throughout this extraordinarily influential part of life.”
— Ina May Gaskin