Quercus pre-empts Illiyin Morrison's debut book on birth and post-partum recovery

Quercus Non Fiction has pre-empted The Birth Debrief by Illiyin Morrison, a book offering practical solutions to navigating pregnancy and transitioning into postpartum life.

The synopsis reads: "In her work as a midwife specialising in post-partum recovery and care, Morrison facilitates birth debriefs, seeking to empower women and birthing people of all backgrounds to take control of their experiences, feel seen and centred in their pregnancies and births, normalising conversations around birth trauma and healing and examining the nuances that are associated with it. Time and time again, it is the lack of advocacy, autonomy, control or consent, rather than the physical aspect of the birth that lingers and informs parenthood. Split into three main sections of 'birth', 'the postnatal period' and 'beyond the fourth trimester', The Birth Debrief will offer practical solutions to navigating pregnancy and transitioning into postpartum life, well beyond those first six weeks."

Morrison is a midwife, hypnobirthing teacher and mother of one with a passion for empowering women during pregnancy and childbirth, and particularly for birth education. Illiyin started her Instagram page in March 2020 with the goal of empowering and educating women, birthing people and birthing professionals and recovery, gained over 11,000 followers in six months. She now offers an international debrief service, which is regularly booked up months in advance. The author said: "I am so excited to be creating the book that firstly, I wish I’d had after giving birth but also the book that I know will touch on so many things that mothers both new and more seasoned will resonate with."

Silé Edwards said: “I am so proud of Illy. Her page was a source of comfort to me after giving birth right at the start of the Covid19 Pandemic, and I owe my postpartum recovery in part to the debrief I had with her. Watching her grow throughout the process of writing this book has been a privilege and I can’t wait for women and birthing people everywhere to have access to her wisdom.”

Sturrock commented: "This book is so important and long overdue. By addressing the psychological impact of birth and the early post-natal period, Illy is unpacking an issue that is so little understood and so little talked about. It’s a privilege to be publishing this book."