I Have No Idea What I’m Doing: Poems on Pregnancy and Motherhood - new release

Grace, aged 34, explained: “It’s a collection of poems which chronicle the minefield that is pregnancy and motherhood.

"I’ve written poems for as long as I can remember, but these mark the most major event in my life – becoming a mother and all its ups and downs.

“Mostly written in lockdown, they also give insight into what it was like to be a new mum during that time.

"But mainly they’re about how this huge change feels and I hope they’ll make others going through the same thing laugh and feel less alone.

“They start in early pregnancy with the depression, anxiety, sciatica and burping and follow my journey to becoming a mother with the breastfeeding, new levels of exhaustion, weaning etc right up to my son’s first day of nursery.

“Writing has always been my escape and a place for me to process how I’m feeling – unfortunately, I tend to over-feel! So during the life-changing arrival of my son, I turned to poetry. I didn’t intend to write a book. It just sort of happened.

“This book is all about my son coming into the world, but I now have a daughter and I still don’t know what I’m doing, so there may well be a sequel… if they give me a spare moment!

“Excitingly, this is my first solo collection. I published Hell-p Me with poetry collective Little Grape Jelly in 2017. In this collection, poems are emailed and texted back and forth between myself and two other poets. They’re spontaneous, honest and delve into the pain, confusion, heartbreak and chaos of being a twenty-something. I started writing when I was a child. I’d sit on the roof of my garden shed and jot down the thoughts in my head in attempt to regulate them. It’s always been a compulsion. Sometimes, I don’t write for months on end, but I always feel better when I do.”

I Have No Idea What I’m Doing: Poems on Pregnancy and Motherhood (Quadrant Books, £10, bookdepository.com).