This series of ink and pencil drawings have been created through making observational drawings from youtube birth videos, and in referencing the birth records of my two sons, in remembering the physical and emotional experiences of birth.They also make reference to historical anatomy sketches.
These explorative drawings represent the beginnings of a project to visually expose the physical and emotional experiences of birth. To consider both the vulnerability of the mother and that of the child. These drawings also seek to represent the carers of the birthing mother be it midwife, doula, partner, family or friend. In these drawings for example the midwives gloved hands are represented gently holding the weight of the babies head as it is delivered.
The body of the mother in these drawings refers back to earlier sketches made in the M(other) series. The mother is fragmented, ethereal, an empty vessel. Such emptiness perhaps pertaining to ideas of the mother feeling emotionally detached from the physical endurance of birth.This body motif also makes references to historical anatomical sketches such as those housed by the Wellcome Trust collections. Embellishment of the vagina seeks to contrast with the disembodied mother, and draw the viewer into the sketch.
My work is concerned with making the personal public and revealing diverse birth experiences that begin with my own. Both of my sons births were natural vaginal births with gas and air for pain relief. I managed the physical process of birth well, but experienced feelings of extreme emotional detachment from my babies throughout both births. I found the pain of labour to be severely distressing and felt unable to channel this pain into positive energy to help progress mylabour. Fear of birth and pain was not unfounded in the birth of my second son, as I hadenlarged fibroids and there was a danger of haemorrhaging in birth.I had wanted to give birth to Naoise at home, but due to the risk of haemorrhaging, I was persuaded by my midwife to have him at the birth centre of the Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax.
Fear in birth I feel definitely prolonged the labour of my second child. I have found the process of making birth visible through these sketches to be an extremely helpful process. I also very much enjoyed watching the many different types of birth’s via youtube, and was comforted by literally seeing a great many babies born without complications. I am interested in how the visualisation of birth could aid both first time mothers and mothers who have experienced traumatic births, and aim to devise a workshop that can provide support for vulnerable mothers whose wellbeing may benefit through participating in visual arts workshops exploring the emotional and physical landscape of birth.
