Season 2 Episode 7: Eleanor Jackson on the poetics and politics of birthing

Birthing and Justice with Dr Ruth De Souza

Synopsis:

To Eleanor Jackson, pregnancy and childbirth are formative practical, philosophical, and social experiences that connect us to life force and joy. The arts producer, performer and author of Gravidity and Parity brought a book and a baby into the world during the coronavirus pandemic. She joins us to talk about medical acceptability, shared responsibilities, and birth’s capacity to bring about new relationships between the body and the public that reflect and sometimes transform deeply held political beliefs.

Notes:

Eleanor’s reflections at the start of the pandemic lockdowns and her third pregnancy.

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/pregnant-in-a-pandemic-facing-physical-distancing-great-unknowns-so-much-more/

An article for Meanjin about how deeper engagement with pregnancy and birthing might influence our collective future over the next 80 years (subscription needed)

https://meanjin.com.au/essays/gravidity-and-parity/

Link to her book Gravidity and Parity which is highly commended in the 2022 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. The book explores the narrative opportunities of pregnancy loss, pregnancy and early motherhood set against the unfolding experience of the COVID 19 pandemic.

https://vagabondpress.net/products/eleanor-jackson-gravidity-and-parity
Music in this episode includes ‘Me on the Inside’ by Ketsa and ‘Salientia’ by REW<<, used under a Creative Commons license from Free Music Archive.

Birthing and Justice is written and produced by Dr Ruth De Souza on the traditional and unceded lands of the Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nations. Sound editing by Olivia Smith.