Matrescence: On Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Motherhood

by Lucy Jones

I saw no sign of genuine urgency or action from governments to reduce air pollution and protect future generations at the most vulnerable period of their lives. I, though, had to avoid soft cheese and too much tea.

Childbirth has become a site for the sacred and that is understandable. It offers a means of connecting with the ritual events of human history. There is great power in birth, and many women do find it empowering. But there is a point at which the absence of information becomes manipulative.

I began to realize that motherhood is a watching. I was, first and foremost, a sentinel. Her sentinel.

I had never seen mothers or women with young babies or children. I had never seen them. But now I saw that the world was full of them. It was a lurching change of consciousness.