S6. Ep7. The memory of a sound - how vividly our birth experiences stay with us

Pregnancy Uncut

Family is everything to Renee.
At 95, she is a living legend, and our oldest guest on Pregnancy Uncut. Renee' s memory is impressively sharp and despite her age, her experiences of her five births remain vivid and profound. Renee now has three grown up children, but she also has two children no longer earthside: she is a survivor of her time, to say the least.
Renee is one of ten (10!!) and grew up in a time where resilience reigned and preventable deaths were part of life. She's lived through a world war, and lost siblings to vaccine preventable disease. Perinatal loss was considered a mishap, at least to some, rarely acknowledged and never discussed or supported.
Her most profound and lasting memories as a young mother are of her still born baby, and subsequent death of another baby, at just a few days old. Sounds and the kind of maternity care she received have never left her.
Renee generously shares her story, and reflects on how much maternity has changed in the last 100 years and how birth experiences imprint on mothers. She is a living testament to the lasting and deep impact of loss, and the strength and resilience of a generation.
Join Alex as she talks to Renee about family, bereavement and the changes that she has seen across nearly a century.