Our origin story - Part One
Our origin story - Part One
What do we do and where did we come from?
Hello friends,
How was your weekend? How is your summer going?
Let us know in the comments, should you wish - we’d love to hear from you.
This is our Tuesday newsletter, arriving slightly later than usual as I’m writing this following the magical chaos of The Tall Ships weekend in Hartlepool. We were there promoting The Women’s Health Hub alongside lots of other local businesses, artists and charities. It was magical and exhausting all at once!
Our aim for the weekend was to get people talking about women’s health - all the taboo topics - from periods to vulvas to breasts, we had it all! It was really interesting watching such a wide range of reactions from people walking past. So many of you absolutely loved it and were so passionate about what we were doing and why we were there. Some didn’t seem quite ready to let go of the social stigma of it all. It was all welcome and all wonderful to witness.
When I was designing the t-shirts, I had to come face to face with my own discomfort, as well as my fear of judgement or criticism and I’m so glad I did because you all loved them (or the ones who didn’t kept quiet at least).
We spoke to over 200 of you (!!) and are welcoming 40 of you here to our newsletter on Substack - we’re so honoured and excited to be growing and raising awareness. If you are new and you’d like to see what kinds of things we do over at The Women’s Health Hub - you can head to our website with all of our information and our newest timetable there. We’d love to see you there one day soon.
I realise that a lot of things have changed since starting Postpartum Matters CIC back in 2021 and we have grown far beyond any dreams I had at the beginning. It’s so beautiful but it’s also a lot to hold so I did want to dedicate some space to explaining who we are, what we do and how we can help you.
I started the CIC back in 2021 in response to my negative postpartum experience following the birth of my second baby during the pandemic. Almost three years on from that birth I am still not fully healed and now have chronic pelvic pain - something I had no clue could even happen and was wholly unprepared for. I wrote about my experience over on Clemmie Telford’s Mother of All Lists blog, way back in the beginning - I wonder if some have you have been around since then and remember?
I had an open, unhealed wound in one of the most sensitive areas in the whole body and I didn’t get any medical help for 3.5 months.
Initially, it was just an Instagram page where I shared my own postpartum story - along with the experiences of hundreds of other women (I hope to share them here too, in time). I wanted to create a space where we could give this period of our lives a voice and where we could raise awareness around the issues, the lack of treatment and the harm that can happen at this time of our lives. I say this not to scare anyone but with the knowing that the struggle here is real and understanding the power of knowing you are not alone.
Me & Han in our pool, in our living room, moments after she was born. Just pure, uncontrolled magic and one of the most empowering moments of my whole life.
The response I got to the Instagram page was huge and really spurred me on - I even went on to speak about my experience on BBC Two! Saying vulva and clitoris live on daytime radio knowing millions of people would hear it was so mad and so brilliant and scary and is still something I am so incredibly proud of even now.
Almost two years - and one autism diagnosis - into being in this campaigning space I can see how hard it is to implement change. As well as how stretched and broken the maternity services are in the UK - making it better from within feels almost impossible. This feeling made me really want to learn how to support people - I felt like, maybe I couldn’t change it or make it better but I definitely could walk alongside you and build you back up after.
In 2022 I did so much personal and professional development. I started running my own postpartum healing retreats in my wonderful friend
Northumberland tipi space. I trained to be a postpartum doula and began supporting people postnatally. I learnt loads about marketing and money mindset and all that stuff and we officially registered as a CIC in July 2022.
I learnt a lot about what I needed to be able to support people, what it took to make sure my invitation got out there and what I needed to be able to do it in a way that felt abundant and accessible for everyone.
I’m really proud of all the work I did last year and all of the people I connected with and helped and it really served to hold me in my own healing - to know that my experience was being used to support others. At the same time, I was realising that I was neurodivergent and learning about how my gender had impacted my access to a diagnosis and support for my whole life (I was 31 when diagnosed).
I could see here how it all links in - all of our experiences - and how much our assigned gender influences how we experience the world and how we experience the health care system. I desperately wanted to create a space where we could all come together as a community.
This is really where the inspiration and idea for The Women’s Health Hub came from. It came from a need and a desire to have a space that was warm and welcoming where women+ could feel safe to ask for the help and support that they need. It came from wanting to have a way of supporting people to navigate all of the services they may need and helping people through their whole lifespace - from girlhood to elderhood.
In February 2023, we found a space that felt just right for that. But that part of the story isn’t wholly mine to tell - I’ll save that for another day.
I’d like to end with the big dream and an invitation.
Because this space is for you - all of you - to do with what you want, to get what you need.
In my head I can see the magic that we’ve made in Hartlepool spreading outwards to other local communities. Across the North East and far beyond.
I can see women+ coming together to start their own hubs. Their own magic spaces.
If you feel that inside of you but are unsure of how to start - please just reach out. I would be honoured to support you with that.
“If women remember that once upon a time we sang with the tongues of seals and flew with the wings of swans, that we forged our own paths through the dark forest while creating a community of its many inhabitants, then we will rise up rooted, like trees.”
Sharon Blackie - If Women Rose Rooted
Sending you love for the week ahead,
Zoe x
So inspiring Zoe! Wonderful to see all these photos and congrats on re sharing those links - so super important! And the TSHIRTS!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰