CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS: A Community Lino-Carving, Printmaking Project on Birth Choices in the UK.
Held/Not Held
The Context
Across the earth, birth has always been sacred — a threshold where we connect deeply with our divine feminine and become a doorway through which new life arrives. It is one of the oldest, most natural acts there is, woven into the rhythms of nature. To me, that description feels somehow incompatible with some of the environments in which births now take place. My hope for my births was to have an empowering experience and bring healthy babies into this world. What was your hope, and how did it compare to your real lived experience?
A recent graph that a friend shared with me shocked me quite deeply, and I felt inspired to respond to it.
This international comparison published by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU) at the University of Oxford shows just how far UK caesarean rates have climbed compared with other countries — a trend that is not matched by better outcomes. Read the full report here
I find myself wondering why so many women choose caesareans over vaginal deliveries? This comes from a space of curiosity over judgement. I hope that all of us are informed enough to know in most cases, a vaginal birth is safer, so what’s happened to shift this figure so drastically in the last 10 years? Is it truly safer in now close to 45% of births, or has something gone awry?
Alongside this, a major new report into UK maternity care has found the system is "not fit for now or the future" This is the recent opinion of Baroness Valerie Amos, chair of the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation. The report suggests that UK Maternity Care is failing women, babies, and families. Furthermore, many of the women whose experiences shaped that report have said their stories were sidelined — with attention drawn instead to the pressures on staff, rather than what happened to the women giving birth. Recurring themes include racist remarks from staff, understaffing, and poor relationships between care teams and the women in their care. You can read the full independent investigation here
This project exists to make space for what didn't fit into that report: the story of the women who have carried life, the mothers and the space holders: Your story, in your own hands.
The Invitation
I am inviting mothers(whose babies lived only inside their wombs), mothers who had premature births, cesarean births, vaginal births, and those who have held space for these women during birth(midwives, doctors, doulas and partners) to carve 1 or more small lino tiles (75mm × 75mm) in response to your own experience with our maternity care system. This might be your own birthing experience or your experience as a doula, midwife, partner, nurse, doctor or other participant. You might want to carve one tile, or, if you have had multiple experiences, you might choose to honour each experience with its own tile. It’s up to you. You are invited to contribute as much or as little as you want.
Let your tile respond to any part of your journey: the relief of a birth that unfolded the way it needed to, the moment you were told you weren't dilating fast enough, the fear, the doubt, the strength, the loss of control, the reclaiming of it. Let your hands carve what your body remembers. There is no single "right" image — abstract, figurative, symbolic, literal, rooted in nature, rooted in spirit — however your experience wants to be carved. You can include words too — just make sure you carve any text mirrored, so it reads the right way round once printed.
Completed tiles will be brought together into 1 or more collective artworks; each precious story is a small mark, one voice. Together, they will grow into something powerful that cannot be looked past.
Every story is welcome and held by me with tenderness. I intend that this project will provide a space for the healing/reflection that you need in your journey.
This is not a project that ranks experiences against one another, and it is not a space for judgement of yourself, your body, or the choices that were made — by you or for you. It is a space for supporting each other and respecting each contribution and experience. Everybody who has carried, carries, delivered or supported the delivery of a new life will be honoured in this project.
Whether you are a complete beginner or a professional printmaker, you are warmly invited and encouraged to join. Every piece will be included, and every mark made is important.
It wouldn’t feel right to ask women to be vulnerable and take part in this without stepping into this space also. So here is my birth story for those who wish to read it.
Please register your intention to take part in this community project here.
Please note this is a not-for-profit project.
What to submit
- 1 or more lino tiles, each 75mm × 75mm
- Once ready, please complete the submission form and send the carved tile/s to me(address will be sent to you after the submission form is complete). If you can send me a small print of it as well, that would be great, but it is not compulsory. I recommend you keep a print of the piece yourself as well!
- If your piece is specifically inspired by a vaginal birth, caesarean birth, premature birth, miscarriage or stillbirth, I would be grateful if you could put a V, C, P, M or S on the back. This may help me when putting them together into a collective piece.
- Optional - if you are on Instagram, I would be grateful if you could share a picture of your carved piece+/ your piece printed
tagging - @heldnotheld
hashtag - #held/not-held - Optional: The story behind your piece: Beyond the tile itself, if you feel called to, you are warmly invited to share the story behind it — as much or as little as you want to tell. Speak it in whatever voice feels true to you — grateful, grieving, fierce, soft, or all of these at once. There will be space for this on the submission form.
Deadline - The Deadline for this project is 11th October 2026. I reserve the right to extend the deadline if needed.
By offering your involvement in this community artwork project, you are permitting me to share your piece publicly. Please read the full terms and conditions here.
This is a non-profit project.
This project stands alongside the women whose voices shaped the recent national maternity care report — and makes room for the ones who didn't get to speak. With gratitude, and in honour of every body that has carried life.
Register here to get involved
If you have any questions, please email me at zoe@zoeclementines.com
Follow this project on Instagram at @heldnotheld