The Transformative Changes of Pregnancy and Early Motherhood

In this month's column for The Life Change Network, I write about the emotional journey that mothers take during pregnancy and early motherhood and offer some suggestions on how to make the most of this truly transformative time. Here's a brief excerpt:

The months before birth represent an opportunity for tremendous personal growth and development—an opportunity for you to become more in-tune with your body, to prepare for the challenges of labor and birth, and to start thinking about the type of relationship you would like to have with your baby.

You can read the rest of the article here.

International Museum of Women Will Hold Making Mothers Visible Events All Over the World During The Month of May

Bathers: Pregnant women show off their bellies. This image, along with more than 100 others, are included in MAMA: Motherhood Around the Globe's online Art Gallery. Credit: Christine Paravicini / IMOW The International Museum of Women (IMOW), with support from local communities, will hold Making Mothers Visible events all over the world during the month of May, drawing attention to the global statistic that a woman dies every 90 seconds of a complication of pregnancy or childbirth. Events will take place in cities including Lagos, Nigeria; Barcelona, Spain; and other cities to be announced.

Making Mothers Visible will call attention to and celebrate the vital role that mothers play in San Francisco and communities around the world, and the importance of their health, empowerment and leadership.

Making Mothers Visible San Francisco 

Making Mothers Visible San Francisco is a large-scale outdoor community photography project that will be held on Mother's Day (Saturday, May 12, 2012) from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm at the San Francisco Main Public Library, Civic Center (100 Larkin Street). The event, honoring San Francisco Mothers on Mother’s Day Weekend, is spearheaded by IMOW in association with the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood.  

To kick off the event, beginning at 10 am, IMOW and volunteers will install large-scale photographs of mothers and midwives from San Francisco on the outside of the San Francisco Main Library Building. Visitors are invited to view the public art installation in process as the photographs are pasted on the exterior walls of the Main Library.

These never-before-seen black and white photographs, ranging in size from 5 to 15 feet tall, will showcase 56 moms and midwives representing the rich diversity of motherhood in San Francisco. This collection of photographs, taken throughout neighborhoods in San Francisco over the past few months, will be displayed on the Main Library Building through Memorial Day Weekend.

“By honoring mothers in this bold, very public forum, we make a statement about the essential importance of mothers and midwives—not just for individual families, but to our entire city and community,” said IMOW Executive Director Clare Winterton. The event echoes the theme of the Museum’s current online exhibition, MAMA: Motherhood Around the Globe, which spotlights global art and issues on the contemporary experience of motherhood. Images from Making Mothers Visible San Francisco will be added to the MAMA exhibition.

Making Mothers Visible is part of the INSIDE OUT Project, a global art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work. It is a movement taking place all over the world using photographic portraits to discover, reveal and share untold stories.

About The International Museum of Women (IMOW)

The International Museum of Women is an innovative online museum that inspires creativity, awareness and action on vital global issues for women.  For more information on IMOW, go to www.imow.org

About MAMA: Motherhood Around the Globe

IMOW’s current online exhibition MAMA: Motherhood Around the Globe showcases original creative works, including art, film, music, photography, essays and video interviews, reflecting the stories, visions and voices of motherhood from more than 60 countries. To visit the MAMA exhibition, go to mama.imow.org.

About The Inside Out Project

INSIDE OUT is a large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work. Everyone is challenged to use black and white photographic portraits to discover, reveal and share the untold stories and images of people around the world. These digitally uploaded images are made into posters and sent back to the project’s co-creators, for them to exhibit in their own communities. People can participate as an individual or as part of a group. Posters can be placed anywhere, from a solitary image in an office window, to a wall of an abandoned building, or in a full stadium. These exhibitions will be documented, archived and be made available online at www.insideoutproject.net/.

The INSIDE OUT project is a creation of the artist JR, recipient of the 2011 TED Prize. Watch JR’s TED Talk here.

About The Ted Prize

The first TED Prize was awarded in 2005, born out of the TED Conference and a vision by the world's leading entrepreneurs, innovators, and entertainers to change the world – one wish at a time. The reward: $100,000, the TED Community's array of talent and expertise, and the leadership of a TED Prize team led by Amy Novogratz. What began as an unparalleled experiment to leverage the resources of the TED Community to spur global change has evolved into one of the most prestigious prizes. From Bono's the ONE Campaign ('05 recipient) to Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution ('10 recipient), the TED Prize is helping to combat poverty, take on religious intolerance, improve global health, tackle child obesity, advance education, and now inspire art around the world. For more information on the TED Prize, visit www.tedprize.org.

About The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood:

Every day, 1,000 girls and women die needlessly pregnancy and childbirth. Almost all of them are in the developing world. This has been going on for too long - yet together we can put an end to it. The White Ribbon Alliance is a global movement, with members uniting to push for change so that all women and newborns in every country have the life-saving healthcare which is their right. www.whiteribbonalliance.org/

Research Project on Mothers and Grief

I recently received this email from a researcher who is working on a project on a topic that is near-and-dear to my heart: mothers and grief. She is interested in learning more about mothers and grief. Please read her note to me below to find out how you can help her with her research.

I am a doctoral student at the California School of Professional Psychology currently seeking your help with my current study.  As a novice therapist working with families and mothers, I frequently refer to your books.  Just thought I would see if you would be willing to help me get the word out about my anonymous and completely online survey for mothers who experienced the death of a loved one while raising a child five years or younger.  There is not a maximum cut off time since the death occurred, although six months since the death occurred is required for participation. 

Regards,

Brittany Chidley 

Doctoral Candidate CSPP San Diego 

Research Project On Mothers and Grief

Responses are anonymous and you can complete online.

I am a graduate student completing my final project on bereavement during motherhood.  Please read below to see if you qualify to take this survey.

To be considered for participation in this study, please visit the link: https://alliant.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_bCsTruQdUeXvIDG 

To participate you must:

• Be a mother
• Have experienced the death of a loved one (not child or partner)
• Have been the caretaker of at least one child five years of age or younger when the death occurred
• The death occurred at least 6 months ago.

Your participation is:

• Voluntary and you may withdraw participation at any time
• Confidential and your privacy will be maintained
• Compensated by entering a drawing for a new Macintosh Apple product, or choose for the researcher to donate $5 per participant to Camp Hope, a grief camp for children.

Motherhood and the death of a loved one are two of the most stressful life experiences women face. 

However, parenting mothers who are also grieving the death of a loved one, other than a partner or child, have not received scholarly attention.

The goal of this study is to enhance the understanding of bereavement and coping among mothers parenting children five years old and younger.  The hope is that by better understanding the grief process during motherhood while parenting young children will eventually increase available resources and support for mothers, families, and clinicians.

This is an opportunity to contribute and help by completing a confidential online survey from the convenience of your own home.

 To participate in this study please click on the link below:

https://alliant.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_bCsTruQdUeXvIDG

This study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board at the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) at Alliant International University and will be conducted by Brittany Chidley, M.A. & supervised by Mojgan Khademi, Psy.D.

To be considered for participation in this study, please visit the link: https://alliant.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_bCsTruQdUeXvIDG