New mothers are good enough – we just need to say so

‘At a physiologically vulnerable time, mothers in pregnancy and postpartum need language that acknowledges their monumental experience and simultaneously gives them hope.’ Photograph: Prostock-studio/Alamy

When you become a mother, everything about you changes, even your DNA. In a process called foetal microchimerism, “zombie cells” from the baby cross the placenta and circulate through the mother’s body, lodging in her organs and tissues like pregnancy souvenirs.

For decades after pregnancy you carry these cells proving that the maternal/infant ties that bind extend much deeper and for much longer than the umbilical cord has us believe.