“Finding out I was pregnant was one of the happiest moments of my life, and one of the loneliest,” said Louise Kirby-Jones.

“All I wanted was my mum beside me. Motherhood reopened every part of my grief.”

Just over a quarter (27%) of mums in the UK are motherless – yet the impact of entering motherhood without the emotional or practical support of their own mums is rarely spoken about.

Kirby-Jones used her experience of postpartum loneliness and grief to co-found The Motherless Mothers (TMM), an online community of women without mums – whether that’s because they have died or are estranged, sick or live far away – who support one another.

“Every year, millions of women become mothers without the support of their own,” said Kirby-Jones. “Yet our healthcare system doesn’t even

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