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Anti-natal

Zoe Williams charts the trials and tribulations of first-time motherhood
  • Zoe Williams with Harper and Thurston

    Caesareans are not the posh option

    In a belated sign-off to her Anti-natal column, Zoe Williams describes how things didn't go quite so smoothly the second time around

  • Anti-natal

    Zoe Williams: Why do some men not get birth-partner etiquette? No, it's not OK to stand in the delivery room downloading apps on to your iPhone

  •  Zoe Williams and son Thurston

    Zoe Williams breaks the silence surrounding childbirth

    Zoe Williams: It's considered really bad form to to be accurate in your labour conversations, in the presence of anyone who hasn't done it

  • Anti-natal

    Nicking your friend's child's name for your own offspring is not cool, says Zoe Williams

  • Zoe Williams

    Anti-natal

    Zoe Williams

    Zoe Williams: T is not interested in his sibling growing in my tummy. Maybe I should tell him it's a puppy instead ...

  • Zoe Williams

    Anti-natal

    Zoe Williams

    Zoe Williams: I'd like an epidural but can't face a shouting match with the midwife. Perhaps I'll try hypnotherapy instead

  • Zoe Williams

    Anti-natal

    Zoe Williams

    Zoe Williams: I have started boring passersby with tedious observations about T. I genuinely make myself sick

  • Zoe Williams

    Anti-natal

    Zoe Williams

    Zoe Williams: T hates his car seat - on one recent trip he shouted 'out!' all the way to France

  • Zoe Williams

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    Zoe Williams

    Zoe Williams: T is too young to be reasoned with, but old enough to pull my hair. There's no solution to this problem

  • Zoe Williams

    Anti-natal

    Zoe Williams

    Zoe Williams: I hesitate to admit this, but in the third trimester I'm incredibly stupid. I wish I could skip this bit

  • Zoe Williams

    More than two hours waiting in the maternity clinic and I just sit there, totally placid. What's wrong with me?

    Zoe Williams

    Naomi Wolf wrote of the obstetric profession that it had a "telling, subtle but distinctive lack of compassion", which you'd never know about if you didn't have a baby. At the time, some while off being pregnant,

  • Zoe Williams

    Anti-natal

    Zoe Williams

    Zoe Williams: T has developed a huge vocabulary of disobliging remarks. He can even say 'no' in French

  • Zoe Williams

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    Zoe Williams

    Zoe Williams: I'm concerned by the dangerous subtexts of Thomas the Tank Engine. Blame my mother

  • Zoe Williams

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    Zoe Williams

    Zoe Williams: Being six months' pregnant means looking after yourself - not getting knocked off your bike

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    Zoe Williams

    Zoe Williams: It's been a week of firsts, all of them objectively bad firsts, but it's nice when they learn things

  • Zoe Williams

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    Zoe Williams

    Zoe Williams: The problem with getting pregnant for the second time is that it's just like the first time. Except nobody cares

  • Zoe Williams

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    Zoe Williams

    Zoe Williams: What do you do when your son has a tantrum in public? There's always some book with a crazy answer

  • Zoe Williams

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    Zoe Williams

    Zoe Williams: T seems to be adopting some of the dog's habits. Am I failing in my duties as a mum, or as a dog-owner?

  • Zoe Williams

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    Zoe Williams

    Zoe Williams: Second time around, I'm not buying parachutes for trousers or dwelling on remarks about the size of my bump

  • Anti-natal

    Zoe Williams: To recap: I have just found out that I am pregnant again - 20 weeks pregnant. It is incredibly embarrassing

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