Lucy Jones, hosted by Michelle Law

The transition into motherhood causes some of the most dramatic physiological and psychological changes in a person, rivalled only by adolescence. And yet this life-altering metamorphosis has been sorely neglected and under-reported.

Acclaimed science journalist and author Lucy Jones (UK) is shedding light on the emerging concept of matrescence. Her pioneering work explores how the changes in the maternal brain and body are far more profound, wild and enduring than we have been led to believe.

Her latest book – named ‘Book of the Year’ by the New Yorker, the New Statesman and the Daily Mail – is an urgent examination of motherhood and mental health, seeking to unburden mothers from the weight of unrealistic medical, cultural and economic expectations. Her expertise is drawn from new research, across fields from neuroscience and evolutionary biology to sociology and cultural history, to reframe the reality of pregnancy, childbirth and early motherhood.

Join Lucy Jones in conversation with All About Women 2025 co-curator Michelle Law for a wide-ranging exploration of a culture more focused on ‘having a baby’ than ‘becoming a mother’ and an opportunity to better honour the process of mothering.

Live from All About Women Festival, Sydney Opera House
Closed Captioned and Auslan