Offspring: Motherhood Stories from the Perspective of Black Mothers in the UK.

“Nobody told me it would be like this” is one of the most common words I have heard uttered by mothers contemplating their motherhood journeys. Although nothing can fully prepare us for the transition, sharing our stories plays an important role for us individually and as a collective. It allows us to unburden and find solace in each other. It was while I was navigating my own intense transition into motherhood that the idea for Offspring came to me.

Offspring explores the physical and psychological changes that occur with the transition into motherhood from the perspective of Black mothers in the UK. The photographs of more visible physical changes like stretch marks, wrinkles, scars, or mementoes of early motherhood serve as a backdrop for visualising and discussing less obvious physiological changes and mental health issues that are taboo or tend to be swept under the carpet.

The objective is to create space for mothers at any stage in their journeys to share their stories without fear of judgement, as their anonymity is preserved. The resulting body of work is a collection of images accompanied by text from mothers of diverse backgrounds, who though experiencing all these changes, would generally be culturally stifled into silence and unable or unwilling to share. The process of sharing these stories is not only cathartic for the mothers but also reveals diverse realities of black motherhood to a wider audience.

In light of reports that show that Black mothers are four to five times more likely to die of childbirth than mothers of other races, this project is an outlet for healing and a platform to address issues that can make a difference in our present experiences and experiences of future generations.

Excerpt from one mother’s story:

“I am a proud mum of two, a nineteen-year-old and a three-year-old. My first pregnancy was so easy. I had no complications except discovering that I carried the sickle cell trait. I had no idea pregnancy could be so complex until I started trying to conceive. I had four miscarriages, one stillbirth and another miscarriage before my three-year-old son was born.

To say that the stillbirth was a life-changing experience is an understatement. I knew something wasn’t right with the pregnancy. It felt like she was dropping, but my concerns were dismissed as “just normal”. I also suffered from Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) and wasn’t taken seriously enough. I remember one particularly awful episode when the paramedics turned up at my door and had no idea how to treat me because they thought I just had morning sickness. At the time, I wasn’t aware of potential complications like pre-term labour or contractions constricting the baby’s airway. The labour lasted for eighteen hours. For some reason, my body wasn’t cooperating, and my water had to be broken by the midwife. It turned out that the heavy, dropping feeling I had been experiencing throughout pregnancy was my cervix opening. It was such a painful experience to have to bury our baby.

Had you asked me how I felt about life and motherhood when I was experiencing all this, I would have come from a place of deep sorrow. But the experiences have changed me. I now really see life for the miracle it is.”

If you would like to get involved, please get in touch at mercy@imharuna.com

*Written for Black Women Photographers blog.