Abstract
This article presents an art-based autoethnographic account of the hysterectomy experience, from the perspective of a perinatal therapist based in a large maternity hospital. The key questions explored include the ways in which a sense of bodily and psychic integrity can be reclaimed post-operatively, alongside the integration of losses associated with a hysterectomy. The article is structured as an autoethnographic exploration, derived from a visual diary incorporating image-making, hand-stitching and writing. Four key themes are discussed with reference to specific images: ‘Navigating disruption’, ‘Adjusting to a changed body’, ‘Accommodating losses: Emerging into Otherhood’ and ‘Renewal: Recovering an inner space’. This personal account is considered against wider cultural and sociopolitical discourses which inform our constructions of femininity. The article offers a counterpoint to medical narratives which may assume recovery from a hysterectomy to be synonymous only with physical recuperation.
Published Version
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