I was looking at which part of my Nan’s memoir to focus on next and because I am teacher training in my forties with family life to juggle, and my nan also did this, I thought it would be interesting to compare the experiences. Although the circumstances that led us onto this path were different… Continue reading Nan’s Diary: Teaching through the menopause
It’s the end of Baby Loss Awareness Week today, culminating in the International Wave of Light when people around the world light candles at 7pm in memory of babies they have lost. It’s a lovely collective thing to do and you can find out more from The Miscarriage Association or Tommy’s. But it’s ok if… Continue reading Wave of light
Tonight’s documentary at 9pm on Channel 4, ‘Davina McCall: Sex, Myths and the Menopause’ is a must watch. The misunderstanding, misinformation and lack of GP education on the menopause, and particularly perimenopause, which many women begin to experience the effects of in their late 30s, is leaving thousands dealing with debilitating and painful symptoms, and… Continue reading My perimenopause
As the coronavirus lockdown continues, and it becomes clear that it is having a disproportionate impact on the lives of women, with warnings of a regression back to the 1950s for many, I thought I’d look further at the actual experience of my nan in the 1950s, who was also bringing up small children around the same age as mine are now. The parallels are stark – particularly the burden of unpaid labour.
With everyone stuck at home, I’m enjoying the descriptions of domestic life in my Nan’s memoirs. She talks of many things in her daily life as she raised three boys under four. This excerpt is from the time when she was living in a flat within a large country house called Feldemore in Surrey, which… Continue reading Nan’s Diary: Life at Home
I thought the blog was long overdue another post from my nan’s memoirs, especially as we head into an uncertain winter. One of the parts about her reflections I find most fascinating is the voice she brings to women’s experiences of the Second World War, particularly when it relates to the path into adulthood and… Continue reading Nan’s Diary: Coming of Age
I’ve been a bit quiet over the last month or so on here because I’ve been suffering for the last three months with urinary tract symptoms that simply won’t go away. It’s become debilitating and wearing being in constant pain, and not being able to treat it properly, and has led me to discover how… Continue reading Chronic UTIs and the scandal of poor testing
It’s International Women’s Day tomorrow. It’s being happening for over 100 years. Why do we still need it? Because we still live in a world where less than 40% of countries provide equal access to education for boys and girls, and where more than 250 million women alive today were married before they were 15*.… Continue reading Celebrating International Women’s Day
After my last post, I took a step back, as I found it really emotionally draining to go back over the utterly shite treatment I had with my last birth in particular. But the state of post-natal care also needs to be addressed and was, on the whole, poor during both my experiences. There have… Continue reading Blog series post #6: Better post-natal care
The government announced recently that more than 3,ooo places on midwifery training courses will be created over the next four years. There also been the ‘promise’ to mothers that they will be seen by the same midwife throughout labour, pregnancy and birth by 2021. It’s an admirable aim, and one that would vastly improve the… Continue reading More midwives only half the answer
My Beautiful Diary of the Amazingly Mundane 