Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood

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Jones is great on the impossible rules, and the lack of correct information meted out to pregnant women. She reveals the dangerous consequences of our neglect of the maternal experience and interrogates the patriarchal and capitalist systems that have created the untenable situation mothers face today. It importantly draws attention to the essential social change which is needed, as well as the bias and misinformed guidance mothers are given when they are at one of their most vulnerable stages of life. I’m not sure whether I would have wanted to read this before I had my daughter but I’m glad to have read this now. Absolutely agree we need to value mothers more as a society and I found lots of the scientific information extremely interesting.

Here is an urgent examination of the modern institution of motherhood, which seeks to unshackle all parents from oppressive social norms. I bought this after hearing Lucy Jones speak on a podcast and so many of her views and experiences of matrescence reflected my own. Guardian Australia acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, waters and community. We pay respect by giving voice to social justice, acknowledging our shared history and valuing the cultures of First Nations.

And not just because I am in matrescence but because I have a mother, I know many mothers, and I could have been a much better friend and supporter if I would have been taught this stuff 10 years ago. We don’t properly recognise “the psychological and physiological significance of becoming a mother: how it affects the brain, the endocrine system, cognition, immunity, the psyche, the microbiome, the sense of self”. the connection between mental health and the natural world turns out to be strong and deep - which is good news in that it offers those feeling soul-sick the possibility that falling in love with the world around them might be remarkably helpful. If at times there is an uneasy tension in this book between the science, memoir, social commentary and flashes of creative writing, this is a testament to its ambition.

I'm going to be interviewing Lucy in November, and I'm looking forward to finding out how she wrote such an incredible book. You'll marvel, wince and want to take to the streets after reading Lucy Jones sweeping and courageous multidisciplinary survey of the motherlands. It talks about the day to day realities of child bearing and about how the institution of motherhood in most countries expects the mother to be a village by herself and renounce most of personal ambitions or desires on the altar of the child, without offering her any valuable support. A part of me deeply aches that almost every facet of western society is designed to erase and sweep childbirth under the carpet. Beautifully written book that truly feels like it was written as a response to every single question, emotion and thought I've had since becoming a mother.

I find myself inwardly cheering at one point when another mother describes how “insipid/idealistic portrayals of motherhood made me less interested in it as a young person. There were times when I found it nearly impossible to read, and other times I found it impossible to put down. I just wish it had been published a few years ago- it would have been much better for me to have read it before I had my own children!

Most importantly, it gave me a framework and vocabulary for my own experience of matrescence and the tremendous changes that pregnancy, birth, and motherhood bring. Generally it seems like the author was, prior to and during her matrescence, securely ensconced in the sort of “feminism” that expects women to desire nothing more (or less or different) than the peak of capitalist achievement, and then those women turn 30 and realise a kid would be nice too, and expect that they can slot that in like taking up knitting. It felt like a bodily unravelling, directly sensory-(but at the same time drawing out new emotions, or, at least for me-unknown to the maternal world). Jones sheds light on the trauma faced by new mothers, whilst describing the failings of Western Society when it comes to supporting mothers throughout their journey.There is no other time in a human's life course that entails such dramatic change-other than adolescence. As I talk to them I see that so much of this seems to be social isolation and being separated from families. Feminism owes a great debt to the women who smell smoke, and societal assumptions about unmedicated birth, breastfeeding, and intensive mothering continue to harm women’s mental and physical health daily. As in her previous book, 2020’s Losing Eden (an examination of our disconnection from nature), Jones’s writing is hungry to impart knowledge.