Audrey Ward - Böcker

The path to parenthood is deeply personal. When that journey twists and stalls, it can feel impossibly lonely. Yet connection, courage and hope can be found, often in the stories of those who have taken the road before us. The Waiting Room exists because too many people experience infertility, loss and longing in silence. Every day in the UK, there are hundreds of miscarriages, about seven stillbirths, ten terminations for medical reasons and five neonatal deaths. Around 1 in every 80 pregnancies in the UK is ectopic. Globally, 1 in 6 couples face infertility at some point in their lives. Yet, the silence around the hospital visits and heartbreak remains.What happens after the negative pregnancy tests, the first miscarriage, the failed round of IVF, the ectopic pregnancy or the stillbirth? What is it like to pursue adoption, surrogacy or donor conception, or come to terms with a life without children? Drawing on dozens of honest, hopeful, bravely shared accounts, Audrey Ward curates a selection of stories – including her own – from those whose journeys to (or away from) parenthood were anything but simple, to help answer all these questions, and more. So, join us in The Waiting Room, a place of comfort, advice and connection, for anyone who has ever felt that parenthood is painfully out of reach.

Originally published in 1980, women in the United Kingdom exhibited a pattern of work which was notably different from that in other countries of the EEC at the time. Its distinguishing feature was the high proportion of women who returned to work by the time they were forty years of age, having temporarily retired to care for young families. Although this pattern was of fairly recent origin, it was thought likely to be sustained. Women’s current life pattern was typically: school – training – work – withdrawal – retirement. Despite the existence of this pattern, agencies responsible for education, training and employment failed to recognise it as normal, often treating women as special cases. Thus there was a lack of flexibility in employment and insufficient retraining or part-time work. The problem was important both for qualified women who had made a considerable personal investment in a career, and for the nation in terms of effective manpower utilisation.The skills required in many occupations traditionally entered by women are either learnt on the job or by means of relatively short formal training courses. This book, however, examines in some depth seven careers which require a minimum of three years’ training. After a foreword by Baroness Nancy Seear and a chapter which introduces the concept of the ‘bimodal’ career and the consequent problems of withdrawal and re-entry, each chapter is written by an author who has conducted original research into the occupation under discussion, and specifically into women’s personal experiences in that particular calling. A concluding chapter considers the implications of the findings both for the individuals concerned and for social policy.

Originally published in 1980, women in the United Kingdom exhibited a pattern of work which was notably different from that in other countries of the EEC at the time. Its distinguishing feature was the high proportion of women who returned to work by the time they were forty years of age, having temporarily retired to care for young families. Although this pattern was of fairly recent origin, it was thought likely to be sustained. Women’s current life pattern was typically: school – training – work – withdrawal – retirement. Despite the existence of this pattern, agencies responsible for education, training and employment failed to recognise it as normal, often treating women as special cases. Thus there was a lack of flexibility in employment and insufficient retraining or part-time work. The problem was important both for qualified women who had made a considerable personal investment in a career, and for the nation in terms of effective manpower utilisation.The skills required in many occupations traditionally entered by women are either learnt on the job or by means of relatively short formal training courses. This book, however, examines in some depth seven careers which require a minimum of three years’ training. After a foreword by Baroness Nancy Seear and a chapter which introduces the concept of the ‘bimodal’ career and the consequent problems of withdrawal and re-entry, each chapter is written by an author who has conducted original research into the occupation under discussion, and specifically into women’s personal experiences in that particular calling. A concluding chapter considers the implications of the findings both for the individuals concerned and for social policy.