Emma Barnett | Maternity Service

Join award-winning broadcaster and journalist Emma Barnett for an honest, real-time exploration of maternity leave in her new book Maternity Service. Far from a restful break, maternity leave—or “maternity service” as Barnett calls it—requires women to be constantly on, juggling overwhelming responsibility, emotional highs, and challenging lows. This book is both a love letter and a lifeline to women navigating this complex, often misunderstood experience.

Written during Barnett’s second maternity leave, Maternity Service captures the unfiltered truth of this period, without the rose-tinted glasses often applied. Barnett shares her personal journey, revealing how the collective forgetting of what maternity leave truly entails can leave women unprepared for the demands it places on their bodies, minds, and identities.

Through this powerful discussion, Barnett celebrates the often invisible work of caring for the next generation and the profound impact it has on women’s sense of self. Don’t miss the chance to hear her speak about the unsung workforce that sustains us all.

In conversation with Alice Wroe