Jacqueline is a certified life coach and matrescence psychotherapist for mums who feel like they’ve lost sight of themselves in motherhood. She helps them get very clear and confident about who they are now at this stage of their motherhood journey. Jacqueline has spent years challenging the unrealistic standards of motherhood that we are encouraged to aspire to and in doing this has redefined what’s possible not just for her but for the mothers that she works with. She is based in Dublin, Ireland.Rosie Lovelock is an Artist and Printmaker working in South East London, England. Influenced by the female form, botanical shapes and the colours, shapes and people around her. She loves working with fine lines and patterns and is driven to include such things in the art that she makes. When she is not printing, she can be found filling up sketch books with drawings of flora and fauna.

• IntroductionThe birth of a motherThe act of motheringThe grief of a motherA mother and her loved onesWhen I lost my selfMy self, my strengthMental Health ResourcesFurther ReadingAbout the AuthorAbout the Illustrator

'Honest, tender, and deeply human, this book captures motherhood as it is actually lived. Small and unassuming, it holds powerful truths so many mothers live but rarely feel able to say out loud. Jacqueline writes with a gentle fierceness, holding the beauty and the difficulty of mothering side by side. Reading her words, I felt seen in the love, the exhaustion, the longing, and the deep complexity of becoming a mother. This is a book that understands the duality mothers carry and offers something profoundly rare: the experience of being seen.'Dr Emma Bagnall, Clinical Psychologist, Matrescence Practitioner, Holistic Sleep Coach, and Mom