The Secret Life of Mothers

Audra Phelps founded Mama Audra to help moms unravel the web of old beliefs after leaving the LDS church to discover her own identity as a woman and mother. With over 15years of experience in international education and coaching, she discovered her passion in supporting moms grappling with grief, mom guilt, and identity loss after a faith crisis. When she finally made the life-altering decision to leave the church, she found herself sinking in uncertainty, lonelier than she'd everbeen before, and constantly feeling like she was failing her children. Through years of coaching, she has walked the path to uncovering beliefs that resonate,building relationships with her children based on love and trust, and navigating the loneliness that comes from starting all over again. She is now focusing her work on the unique challenges that ex-Mormon moms are navigating, helping them feel confident in who they are and blaze their own path, on their ownterms.https://mamaaudra.comMasterclass - 5 Shifts Every Former Mormon Mom Needs to Make: https://mamaaudra.com/training www.mothersuncovered.com www.matrescence.ukwww.maggiegordon-walker.com

Madhu Senaratne is a lecturer, researcher and writer. She holds a PhD, and her work focuses on voice, power, and ethicsin storytelling. She currently lectures in areas of humanitarian reporting, and media and development. She has previously worked as a journalist and with the United Nations in conflict and post-conflict contexts. She has published numerous academic and creative pieces. Her debut poetry pamphlet Mother Self explores the everyday realities of motherhood, focusing on identity, care, andthe emotional complexity of that experience, capturing both its vulnerabilities and its strengths.Instagram: motherselfstorymothers_uncovered

Chloe Saunders is the Director of The Afterbirth Club, a community supporting parents through the messy, in between stages of parenthood.Alongside this, she works in cyber security, balancing a structured professional world with advocacy, podcasting and community building.She brings an honest perspective on motherhood lived in the often overlooked space of not quite a young mum, but not quite anything else either. At her core, Chloe believes that no act of kindness is ever wasted, and that showing up for people, consistently and without judgement, matters.Insta: theafterbirthclubwww.mothersuncovered.com

Naomi Booth is the author of the novels Exit Management and Sealed, and the short-story collection Animals at Night; her work has been featured in books of the year in the Guardianand the White Review, listed for the Sunday Times short story award, and she won the Edgehill Short Story Reader's Prize in 2023. Naomi grew up in West Yorkshire and now lives in York; she is Professor in Creative Writing at Durham University. Her most recent novel, raw content, was described in nb magazine as 'a beautiful and thought-provoking story of post-natal mental health, violence, paranoia and unconditional love in all itsforms'. #naomibooth #rawcontent #mothersuncovered #matrescence #maggiegordonwalker

Ida Melum is a BAFTA & BIFA nominated and Annie & RTS awardwinning animation director based in Sweden. She has a master's degree in Directing Animation from the National Film and Television School in London, where she made her award winning, and BAFTA nominated graduation film ‘Night of the Living Dread’. She just finished her newest film, “Ovary-Acting”, a short comedy that deals with the topic of whether to have children or not. The film premiered at Tribeca and Annecy, has screened at over 50 festivals so far and won several awards, including Flickers Rhode Island - Best Animated Short. www.matrescence.uk

Jane Upton is a playwright. She wrote her first play when shewas 30 after an eight-year career in marketing. Her first play BONES had a sellout run at the Edinburgh Festival which led her to leave her marketing job and pursue a new path as a writer. It’s been a road of many tangents and fourteenyears on. She’s married and has a 10-year-old daughter and a six-year-old son.Her Bruntwood shortlisted play '(the) Woman' is at the Park Theatre, London from Sept 24th-Oct 25th.Insta@mothers_uncoveredPromoted by @mobiustheatre on Instagram

Maggie Gordon-Walker speaks to Daisie Lane, who is a mother of two, and writes poetry about motherhood which she shares online. She speaks honestly about maternal mental health, has run various workshops encouraging mothers to write about their experiences, set up an online community for mothers who gave birth in lockdown, and has published two books, including Motherhood in Lockdown - a compilation of 150 mothers' experiences.Instagram @daisielanewritesInstagram @mothers_uncoveredwww.mothersuncovered.com

Maggie speaks to the inspirational Sam Southern, who is a devoted mother of five children and a stepdaughter, navigating the complexities of life after losing her husband to suicide. As a manager of a service in Blackpool, she draws on her lived experiences to project manage initiatives that support those affected by suicide. She is a passionate advocate for suicide postvention support. Her journey has fueled her commitment to raising awareness and providing compassionate support to others facing similar challenges, and she strives to foster understanding and healing within the community. Sam will share details of her husband's suicide and references to domestic abuse, so please be mindful if that is something that you will find upsetting.Sam can be found on Instagram @sammysuns

Ashleigh Houlton is a former beauty features editor. She’s now a mum of a 3 year old son, with a blog on motherhood. She has had many hurdles in her journey, both to motherhood and thereafter, having experienced adenomyosis, described as the ‘the evil sister of endometriosis’. The indomitable Ashley has not let it stop her. She makes sense of her new sphere of life on Substack and Instagram as MotherVerse, where she tackles taboo topics such as birth trauma, PTSD and parenting with chronic illnesses. https://motherverse.substack.com/about

When I became aware of the word matrescence, meaning the process of becoming a mother, I could see immediately the importance of it. The word was coined by anthropologist Dana Raphael in 1973, but is not well known in the UK outside of medical circles, unlike the very familiar adolescence. Both are times of hormonal fluctuations and bodily changes, when a new identity emerges and emotions run riot. Why is this word important? What’s in a name, after all? Quite a lot, I think. Currently there is no term in common usage to describe this point in a woman’s life. The offerings are diagnostic and medical, or the belittling ‘baby blues’, which only covers the short-term period following the birth. Post-natal depression is a label that comes with a certain stigma; it is negative, prescriptive and limiting. It in no way embraces the complexity and depth of this time. Becoming a mother is a lengthy process, it doesn’t happen overnight. Indeed one might argue that the journey of motherhood continues for the rest of your life. With matrescence to describe this time, women can start to own it and trust that whatever they are going through, it normalises the full gamut of experiences and feelings. Every single person on this planet has, or had, a mother. There are countless studies that point to the impact of upbringing in later life. It is time we took it seriously and championed matrescence.