Guest monologue: The strength it takes to keep trying

A guest post by Victoria @vic_roud Exhausted. Feeling frazzled from trying to juggle everything – work, activities, appointments, planning and cooking healthy meals each day. Struggling with lack of sleep. All the picking up off the floor. Most mums will understand this fraught state of being; but I’m not a mum. This is ‘trying to […]

Guest monologue: I wish I could be friends with my womb, but I’m not

A guest post by Katie @withoutottilie Me and my womb aren’t exactly the best of friends. I love being a woman. And yet the one physical organ that defines my womanhood, has caused me nothing but pain. Our difficult relationship started on 28th February 1989, my Mum’s birthday, when I was 11. I knew about periods because […]

A single, empty coffee cup sits on a cafe table, behind it there is a pram at another table.

The Group

Now that the schools have gone back, the café feels like neutral territory again. She reclaims her usual spot in the corner, takes out her book, waits for her coffee. In the holidays, it gets too loud for her here; the presence of everyone else’s children oppresses, the noise and sudden movements of so many […]

Guest monologue: ‘Any news?’ Miscarriage as a Muslim woman

A guest post by @Project_Babyu ‘Is it good news?’ My mother-in-law’s friend is smiling at me – and at my still swollen stomach. This is a common question in my community. From the moment a girl gets married, the next thing people will ask is whether a baby is on the way. Straightaway: ‘Any news?’ […]