Oct. 17, 2023, 11:36 a.m.
Taking it all in
when it's hard to look, that is when you need to try hard not to look away
Postpartum Matters
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Hi friend,
Thank you so much for being here.
Truth is, I’m finding it hard to find something meaningful to say to you this week. As a white, cis-woman, my task this month has been to listen. To witness. To learn.
On October 6th, I shared the below post on IG, in response to the conservative parties decision to attack trans women instead of committing to equitable healthcare for everyone (including cis-women).
I don’t want same sex toilets.
I want equal access to healthcare.
I want the medical conditions that are solely related to women and AFAB to be actually researched.
I want accessible childcare so I can continue to work despite having kids (something neither of my children’s dads had to consider).
I don’t want same sex toilets
I want public spaces that aren’t so overstimulating that they make me ill
I want easier access to mental health support when I need it
I want my children to be able to go to school and to stay home as much as they need without being threatened or reported
I want to stop feeling so fucking exhausted all of the time.
This particular conversation is hard, for very personal reasons. I don’t want to share that here but I urge you to read the words of and watch the beautifully heartbreaking video she shares in this post.
Trans kids are just kids.
Trans adults - women, men, those who do not assign to any binary - are just people.
There is no difference.
There is no us and them.
All of that is just a smoke screen, preventing us from seeing and acting on the real issues at hand.
The day after I shared that post on IG, Hamas attacked Israel, who soon began dropping thousands of bombs on Gaza, in response.
This newsletter isn’t a political one. And this post won’t delve into the politics or the complex history of this situation. This newsletter exists as a space to share our work, to provide support and to work towards better care for women+, in the postnatal period and beyond.
But asking for equality of cis-women whilst denouncing trans women, is not true equality.
Asking for wholeness and equality in one country, whilst ignoring the plight of another, is not true equality.
And as the descendent of white British Christians (working class, sure, but still) who’s actions of aggression, oppression and colonisation have ravaged this beautiful planet, it feels wrong to not acknowledge these occurrences.
My people broke this and it is now my duty to learn and to listen and to help make it right.
Heritage in mind, anything I say right now is just making noise and providing distraction from the atrocities happening in the Middle East currently.
Instead, this week, I want to share some posts I have found most helpful. This is not an extensive list, it is just the things that have appeared in my various socials feeds. Please do read on further and find more resources, if you can.
And, if you are not in the right space to witness these events unfolding, know that that is also okay. I’ll catch you another time and I am sending you my love. (You may gain some comfort on this post about protest from ).
Please also consider, if you can, donating money to helping the victims of these attacks.
Resources and Background
- i.e. what the hell is going on?
I really liked this post by who has also shared some amazing resources in her IG stories that give context to the current situation.
This post from National Geographic is a particularly good one to explain the history of Israel, and this post here explains well the history as well as how Britain played a hand in the issues and conflict we see today.
Beautiful words written about hard things
I got a lot from reading the below Substack posts.
This post from gave me the confidence to share this newsletter with you and also has some great links to dive into.
Let’s take some time to reset
This newsletter has been heavy.
The world is heavy. It has felt that way for too long of a time.
Here are some beautiful invitations to reset, that I have found here on Substack this week.
This post from with a beautiful recalibration exercise in it.
This exercise and audio from is just beautiful
I’ll be back next week with more of our regular ‘stuff’ and don’t forget that next Friday is our Community Connection Circle. You can read more about that here, we’ll be starting on Zoom from 6pm - come with your kids, come in your pjs, come along however you need to at the time. You are so welcome.
Take care of yourselves,
Zoe xx