After a traumatic birth, local Mum Jayne Salisbury-Jones, releases her book which reflects on the trials of motherhood through insightful and funny poems.
Now available on Amazon, Waterstones and all good and some rubbish bookshops.
Sitting down for coffee, cake and a chinwag in a local Bebington Café Amor we find out the what, why and when of “What they don’t tell you about motherhood”. Jayne is bubbly, yet doesn’t come across as overly confident. She talks with passion and excitement but is keen to stress that she, like everyone else, is learning it all as she goes.
Background
“In 2018 I was a teacher in a Wirral primary school when me and my husband found out we were expecting our first baby. Very early on in the pregnancy I got bilateral inguinal hernias and had to leave work.
“I had a tough time carrying the baby, ending up in hospital to be treated with severe sickness several times. At 34 weeks I was rushed to hospital following a midwife appointment. I was admitted with severe pre eclampsia. After a week trying to control my blood pressure, I was induced resulting in an emergency C-section.
“24 hours after baby George was born, I became very ill. I was suffering with preeclampsia and developed a pulmonary oedema (water in my lungs). On top of that I also got sepsis. A day after my son was born, I was being rushed to Intensive care away from my new family. It was a very scary time for all of us. Even my brother flew in from Dubai to be with me.
“Thankfully, after several weeks in hospital I was able to return home and my family was together again. To this day I am still feeling the affects of the birth and all the complications. I have had several operations since, again disrupting our family life.
“I have always been known for my humour and trying to see the bright side of things. Some time went by and I began struggling with my mental health after being so sick and away from my baby in the first week of his life. It was also hard relying on being helped at home by friends and family to look after baby George.
Beginning the journey
“To cheer myself up, I turned to writing poetry about my pregnancy and delivery, adding humour to the awful situation. After several weeks of writing I decided to upload one of my poems to Facebook. To my utter amazement it was huge success. I decided to set up a Facebook page calling it ‘What they don’t tell you about being a Mum’ and added more humorous yet poignant poems each day. To my astonishment the page attracted people first locally and then globally. I have followers across the world including America, China, South Africa, New Zealand and Fiji.
“I added a poem everyday. This led to me being approached by a publishing company. Initially I declined the opportunity as I had so much on with my health and trying to raise a baby. After a lot of things had settled I approached the publishers and decided to submit a manuscript. The publishers loved the writing and the story we began making my journey to becoming an author.
“Due to Covid and my ongoing health issues, the book has taken a while to get together. I have continued to add poems to my page most days and now have three years worth of poetry about being a mother.
“I receive messages of support and thanks from people from all over the world that can relate with what I am sharing with them. Recently when my son was not well I received a lot of love and support from my followers, this reminded me of the huge support I continue to receive.
Pride in my book
“My emphasis on the book is, becoming a new parent is hard, to say the things no one dares to say, here’s what they don’t tell you, and it’s OK not to be OK.
“Never did I imagine amongst my adversity and worries about health, finances, keeping my house, that a success story would arise. I’m very grateful for my family, my son, (who is my everything) and for the people who supported me in picking myself up and encouraging me to publish my book.”
The book makes a great present for parents, new parents, baby shower gifts and for grandparents to laugh and reminisce. Enjoy!!
Are you an Author? Have you managed to turn adversity into success? Contact us today and let us know your story.