We've Found the Words. Now We Need the Support

Motherhood in the early years

We now have language for matrescence, birth trauma, postnatal anxiety and postnatal depletion. But naming a problem isn't the same as solving it.

When I first started working as a postnatal doula in 2013, these conversations were happening only in specialist circles. There was no viral content about matrescence. "Postnatal depletion" hadn't yet entered the mainstream vocabulary. And the idea that a new mother might need weeks or even months of dedicated support was often viewed as a luxury rather than a necessity.

A lot has changed since then.

Today, there's greater awareness of the realities of early parenthood, the impact birth can have on the postnatal period, and about the transition to motherhood, matrescence. Social media, for all its complications, has created space for mothers to speak honestly about loneliness, identity shifts, difficult recoveries and the emotional challenges that can accompany life with a new baby. That visibility matters. It has helped bring experiences such as birth trauma and postnatal anxiety into public conversation, encouraged research, and challenged outdated expectations of what motherhood should look like.

When I started out, explaining what a postnatal doula actually does was a significant part of every conversation: with clients, with midwives, with health visitors, with families at the school gates. I do believe there's broader awareness now, but not enough. The reality is that postnatal support remains one of the most overlooked parts of maternity care. Having worked on the postnatal ward of a busy London hospital, I've seen first-hand the pressures facing maternity services. The NHS is understaffed and overstretched, and only a small proportion of the maternity budget is allocated to postnatal care. And don't get me started about NHS breastfeeding support!

For many mothers, support after birth consists of one or two visits from a midwife and a six-week GP check. Then, often, it stops. As though healing, bonding with a baby, adjusting to a new identity and recovering physically and emotionally should somehow be complete by that point.

Families are still largely expected to cope alone. To focus entirely on the baby while the mother's needs quietly recede into the background. We've become better at acknowledging the challenges of the postnatal period, but the structures designed to support families have not evolved at the same pace.

At the same time, many parents are navigating this transition without the support networks previous generations may have relied upon. Extended families are often geographically scattered, communities are less naturally connected, and the village people speak of has, for many, disappeared in any practical sense.

This is where postnatal doulas can make a meaningful difference. Through evidence-based support, practical care, emotional reassurance and an understanding of the complexities of the postnatal experience, doulas often help bridge the gap between what families need and what services are currently able to provide.

Twelve years in, I love supporting families in the postnatal period just as much as I did when I first started. But my hope is that one day this level of support won't feel like an extra or a luxury. It will simply be recognised as an essential part of caring for mothers, babies and families.

Until then, this work matters, and why I’m here.