Love, loss and survival: Changing into a mother or father in the course of the pandemic

The sequence options portraits of recent and expectant mother and father from London, accompanied by their testimonies of affection, loss and survival within the face of adversity.

The mission started after Kent grew to become a mother or father for the primary time in September 2020, when he shared a picture of his spouse along with their new child child daughter and midwife. He quickly acquired messages from all around the world from folks wanting to inform their tales.

He realised a possibility to doc how pandemic restrictions have been impacting this life-changing expertise for tens of millions. His mission reveals the challenges of bringing a child into the world in the course of the pandemic.

Marie and Marcie – London, 2021

Marie contracted Covid at 34 weeks pregnant and have become severely sick. Her mother and father had caught the virus per week earlier, her mom passing away from Covid-related issues simply as her personal sickness worsened. Wearing full PPE, she visited the hospital to say goodbye to her. It wasn’t till three weeks later that Marie recovered and went into an eight-day labour, nonetheless grieving for her mom. Seven days of early labour have been adopted by a sequence of interventions, induction and at last an emergency c-section as a result of place of the newborn. She instructed me: “It was lots. Individuals say it takes a village however there was no village – there was no bodily help. I discovered lots about resilience. Should you can undergo hell and are available out the opposite aspect, there’s hope to handle something.”

Alanya and Casper – London, 2021

Alanya discovered she was pregnant and misplaced her accomplice simply earlier than her 20-week scan in 2019. She had her child the day the primary lockdown was introduced. Because the nation got here to a standstill and her psychological well being deteriorated, she spent months on a mom & child unit earlier than shifting right into a tower block in Whitechapel along with her son Casper Fox (named after his late father).

Alanya stated: “Once I misplaced my accomplice I used to be locked in all day, daily and after I was lastly able to exit into the world once more the restrictions have been introduced and we couldn’t go wherever – that was actually exhausting and I felt trapped. On the similar time, I felt like I used to be letting my son down as we weren’t going out and doing stuff. However Casper has actually thrived. He’s charismatic, loving and ridiculously intelligent – and I’m so happy with him. We’re each as energetic as one another and we’re at all times fooling around. We make duo – at all times making the perfect of various conditions.”

Sarah and Bee – London, 2021

Sarah and Bee’s portrait was the primary photograph I shot for the sequence. It encapsulated the strain of turning into a brand new mother or father in the course of the pandemic and actually charged the early phases of the mission. Months later, after I took this {photograph}, she instructed me: “After our daughter was born there was nonetheless a lot uncertainty and a scarcity of help. We have been simply left to it. It’s unusual to assume now about these early weeks – it’s all a little bit of blur. There have been positives. Social restrictions meant I might lean into motherhood with out the stress of doing all the traditional stuff that you just’re anticipated to do. However help was missing. Actual-life providers have been both cancelled, delayed or occurred over the telephone. And like many others in the course of the pandemic, I actually struggled. Native mums grew to become my help community. We met up repeatedly – at all times exterior in parks and socially distanced. This was vital for caring for my psychological well being and wellbeing. We fashioned childcare bubbles and did what we wanted to remain linked and sane.”

Izzy and Isla – London, 2021

Izzy and I sat on a bench surrounded by daffodils as she instructed me that she had been pregnant 3 times in the course of the pandemic and suffered two miscarriages. On the time we spoke, she was 16 weeks pregnant. I used to be struck by her bravery in desirous to share her story and her dedication to boost consciousness in regards to the challenges she had confronted. Izzy stated: “Being pregnant after loss was immeasurably exhausting – equal elements desirous to hope and consider, mixed with the overwhelming concern that it might all be taken away in a heartbeat. The concern and anxiousness didn’t cease at 12 weeks, 20 weeks nor the second earlier than she was born. It was solely as soon as I used to be holding her in my arms that the concern and anxiousness crumbled away solely to get replaced by love and happiness.”

Sally and Rosalie – London, 2021

Sally was 35-weeks pregnant after I first met her at her house in East London. Fifteen weeks earlier, throughout Christmas 2020, she and the remainder of her household contracted Covid. She instructed me how she felt numb by concern of the unknown and described how “like dominoes, everybody in my family went down with the virus: my husband, my mom and at last my 18-month-old son. We simply needed to wait it out”. Sally instructed me that her post-natal expertise was a blur by which help for brand new moms felt non-existent. Speaking about her daughter, she stated: “I really feel like I awakened and he or she was three months outdated. I like her a lot and I hadn’t even stopped to consider it. She’s unimaginable.”

Assad, Bisma and Azlan – London, 2021

Bisma’s waters broke at 22 weeks on the day the World Well being Group declared the Covid-19 outbreak a world pandemic. She was instructed she would give start inside 48 hours to a child that had a mere 1 per cent probability of survival. She stated: ”I might nonetheless really feel the newborn kicking and my religion was sturdy. I refused to take the pill to induce labour and with every week that handed my child’s probability of survival elevated.” Azlan – from the Turkish that means ‘lion; courageous, brave man’ – was born 10 weeks later. Bisma’s husband Assad stated: “When Bisma’s waters broke at 20 weeks our world got here tumbling down. It was our religion that gave us one thing to carry onto when it felt like there was nothing left. Religion and faith will not be tangible issues, however they crammed the chasm that we discovered ourselves in throughout these darkest hours.”

Katie and Violet – London, 2021

Katie and her husband determined to attempt for a child in 2020 and he or she gave start to her daughter Violet earlier this 12 months. I used to be prepping my cameras for a shoot after I noticed Katie enjoying along with her child and captured this picture. It was taken as social restrictions have been easing within the UK and it felt just like the darkest days of the pandemic have been behind us. Katie stated: “Lots of people have had time to mirror – about life, the selections they’ve made, and the type of life they wish to stay sooner or later.”

Rebecca – London, 2021

Rebecca discovered she was pregnant in September 2020. Designated high-risk because of her medical historical past, she nervous about contracting Covid and dropping the newborn. She stated: “It was clear that winter was going to be terrible. Everybody tells you to attempt to keep calm throughout your being pregnant however there was this sense of constructing dread. Shielding for the final three months of the being pregnant, attending emergency scans alone, taking care of our toddler and juggling our careers was completely exhausting. I used to be so nervous in regards to the affect this might have on our child and positively felt robbed of these valuable antenatal moments, however we needn’t have nervous. Our child is a dream – he’s smiley, completely satisfied and decided.”

Claire and Charlie – London, 2021

Being pregnant, diabetic and blended race meant that the pandemic was an anxious time for Claire and her accomplice. She stated: “We have been actually strict with the restrictions. Individuals didn’t maintain our child till the vaccines have been rolled out, and even then, there have been nonetheless a variety of unknowns. There was the pandemic itself but additionally the query mark over after we would see a return to normality. I discovered that basically troublesome. Individuals talked about attending to grips with the “new regular”, however we have been additionally negotiating parenthood for the primary time and it was exhausting to distinguish between the 2. We have been at all times acutely aware that there have been different mother and father going by tougher conditions, however I did really feel robbed of the maternity expertise I’d hoped for. After all the pieces we’ve been by, I’m type of shocked that Charlie is such a cheerful and chilled out child. I’m studying lots from him.”

Keeley and Freddie – London, 2021

Keeley and her accomplice grew to become mother and father for the primary time in 2020 after making an attempt for a child for seven years. Taking photos of Keeley and her son Freddie I used to be struck by the particular bond between the 2 of them. Keeley stated: “This was not how the script was meant to play out. After seven years of making an attempt to have a child, 9 rounds of IVF remedy, in 4 completely different clinics and three completely different international locations, and at last shifting to egg donation to fulfil our dream of being mother and father, I used to be meant to have an idyllic being pregnant and postpartum expertise. A worldwide pandemic was not within the script, not that any of our expertise might have been scripted. It’s a narrative that’s taken greater than its share of plot twists and cliff hangers, and I longed for “regular”. Sure, it has been superb, and positively life-altering, however with the great thing about hindsight and the dream of a path out of this pandemic, I can now in truth say it’s been exhausting. Simply because I’ve the factor I’ve at all times wished, my little miracle Freddie, it doesn’t cease it being robust. This was not how my story was meant to proceed, and I’m going to be sincere, I really feel greater than somewhat cheated.”

Nichelle, Ruqayyah and Alaiyah – London, 2021

Nichelle works as a midwife within the NHS. On this photograph from 2021 she is proven along with her two daughters on a pumpkin patch at a farm on the outskirts of London. Simply earlier than the primary Covid-19 lockdown within the UK in March, 2020, Nichelle’s daughter Alaiyah was born. On returning to work as a midwife, Nichelle began to document her ideas in regards to the pandemic and its results on NHS colleagues. She instructed me how she wrote “a few traces at a time – normally at 4 am”. Speaking about her latest expertise on the entrance line, Nichelle stated: “Midwives will at all times help one another however morale has been low on maternity items – you possibly can’t pour from an empty cup. There aren’t sufficient of us and lots of really feel undervalued. Trusts are drafting in group workers to plug the gaps at hospital degree and maternity items are closing. Worst of all, many people really feel like we’re not capable of supply the degrees of care, help, and security we’ve at all times desired.”

James Clifford Kent, a senior lecturer at Royal Holloway, College of London, is presently turning the sequence right into a ebook and can showcase work from the mission alongside the Babylab on the College of Cambridge in 2022. Learn extra tales from the mission:  @jamescliffordkent

When you have been affected by a miscarrage or child loss you possibly can go to Tommy’s and Sands for help and recommendation