Samantha Valentine first wrote for The Early Hour while in the grips of postnatal depression. Now, a year on, she discusses the difficult journey she’s been on towards a recovery, of sorts….
Category Archive: Family
Family
Mothers-to-be are often advised to keep their pregnancies quiet until around the 12-week scan, when the chances of miscarriage become lower. But Annie Ridout disagrees with this. Here’s why…
Family
Four months after her mother died from breast cancer, Rachel Clarke found out she was expecting her first baby. In this moving piece, Rachel describes how it feels to enter motherhood without your own mother there to guide you…
Family
The Big Issue has launched its annual kids’ competition to design the front cover for its Christmas edition. Designs can take any form – from drawings to paintings to digital art. Ready, steady, create…
Family
When Annie Ridout’s son became very ill, very quickly, she dropped everything to spend five days with him in hospital. Here, she discusses the moment she realised that nothing mattered, except his recovery…
Family
“Never had I contemplated the complete void that you fall into when you hear those words: “I’m sorry guys, there’s no heartbeat”. Writer Sarah Matthews writes about the deep pain of miscarriage…
Family
Charlotte Duckworth was looking for novels that reflected her experience of new motherhood but couldn’t find. So she wrote The Rival. It’s gritty, relatable in parts, shocking and has unbelievable twists. Here, Charlotte explains how she came up with the story…
Family
For some mothers, work is a financial necessity. For others, it’s a choice: they want to continue pushing their career forward. But Annie Ridout wonders whether sometimes mothers do paid work to feel appreciated…
Family
Amongst feminist parents, there’s talk about whether or not we should tell our daughters they’re beautiful; does this make them base too much of their self-worth on their looks? Annie Ridout has decided it’s ok, here’s why…
Family
When Annie Ridout told her husband she was concerned about how disorganised she’d become, his answered surprised her. He said he was pleased; that he prefers her now that she’s forgetful and messy. Here’s why…