13-05-2025
Sligo mother's campaign for better care for new mums gathers momentum
The Year of Care Campaign was officially launched in Strandhill on Saturday, led by Sligo woman Aolish Gormley, whose personal experience and fierce advocacy have ignited a movement demanding a full year of postnatal support for every mother in Ireland.
Among the keynote speakers were renowned activist Ailbhe Smyth, whose decades of feminist leadership inspired the gathering and Tracy Holmes, a maternal health advocate and author of Raising Resilience who spoke movingly about the gaps and inequalities mothers face in the current system.
'With the launch of the Year of Care Campaign, we are witnessing the beginning of a long overdue conversation about how we care for mothers after birth not just in the days or weeks that follow, but for a full year,' said Aolish.
'This is the first national campaign in Ireland to demand a seismic shift in how we support women postnatally.
'Until now, our systems have too often treated childbirth as an endpoint, rather than the beginning of one of the most physically and emotionally demanding transitions in a woman's life. The Year of Care is here to change that.
'The physical recovery from birth can take months.
'The emotional toll can last even longer.
'Yet many mothers find themselves isolated, unsupported, and expected to carry on as though nothing has changed.
'This campaign is a call to action for government, healthcare providers, employers, and communities to finally recognise the fourth trimester and beyond as a crucial period that deserves investment, compassion, and care.
'We are demanding policy change, extended maternal healthcare services, better access to mental health support and flexible community care options. But more than that, we're demanding a cultural shift: one that sees the mother, not just the baby, one that honours the act of caregiving, and refuses to let women fall through the cracks.
'This campaign is rooted in lived experience. It speaks to the silent struggle of countless women who are expected to 'bounce back' within weeks of giving birth, often with little more than a six-week checkup before they're left to navigate physical recovery, emotional upheaval, and round-the-clock infant care on their own,' said Aolish.
