TITS UP: An editorial ode to modern motherhood

“I never felt so lonely as I did when I was a new mum,” is the sentiment that inspired Kim Howells’ TITS UP platform. After giving birth to her son during lockdown, and seeing him placed in intensive care, the fashion and celebrity stylist’s first foray into motherhood was a particularly challenging one. But Howells knows that motherhood is a struggle for all mums; even those who seem to have their shit together. The TITS UP platform is Howells’ humble but powerful anecdote to this reality. A podcast, online community and events group (think: monthly brunches and retreats), TITS UP offers a place for mothers to share in the untinted candour of motherhood.

Created in collaboration with HUNGER, TITS UP’s Mother’s Day campaign sees Howells join forces with photographer Bella Howard. Pairing glamorous shots of mothers in London’s creative community with stories of times when things have gone ‘tits up’, this editorial is both a rallying cry and a surrender: things go wrong for even the strongest of women, and these challenges are best navigated together. Whether figuring out breast pumps or dusting off your heels for a rare night on the town, it famously takes a village. This editorial embraces both the good and the bad, but dresses it in unapologetic styling for a timely moment of celebration.

LALA HAYDEN

Singer and founder of INBODY

I feel like I have to fight against people’s perceptions of me — what motherhood means I can and can’t do. I feel like decisions are made for me, and it adds another layer of frustration to the process. As a mother, you’re already dealing with so many internal (and not so internal changes) and this contributes to the post-partum murkiness. I know people mean their best, and it definitely doesn’t come from a place of malice, but it stings regardless. I have to work twice as hard to prove myself because pregnancy and motherhood are things that are considered a ‘women’s issue’ and therefore, we haven’t really seen it ‘done’ in pop culture.

SADIE CLAYTON

Copper sculptor, cultural communicator and fashion educator

It was one of the early days when my partner went back to work and Koa was five weeks old. I was holding Koa on one arm, pumping with the other and had my best mate on FaceTime. I finished pumping and got 100ml, then turned around and spilled it everywhere! I started balling my eyes out like a baby. Literally crying over spilt milk.

ALEX SMALLMAN

Founder of UberMummies and fitness coach

Twins as your first babies? Straight in at the deep end. There have been a gazillion tits-up moments, but one that stands out is the unforgettable day Arthur and Patrick removed their nappies and redecorated their brand new bedroom. Cots. Walls. Carpet. Themselves. Poo everywhere! Nothing about twins has ever been relaxing. Baby groups are chaos and leaving the house feels like a military operation. But we still get out. Safety in numbers…

SANCHIA LEGISTER

Yogi, somatic life coach and founder of Yogahood LDN

My first work trip away from my baby while breastfeeding felt like it might go tits up fairly quickly when I realised, halfway into a 12-hour flight, that I’d forgotten my breast pump and leaked through my top without having a spare one. I ended up trying to hand express (not the easiest job) my engorged and sore breasts in the plane toilet. It wasn’t exactly glamorous, but motherhood has definitely made me more resourceful and better at rolling with the unexpected.

KIM HOWELLS

Creative director and stylist

For me, the most tits-up moment will always be my birth when everything literally went tits up during lockdown. The wonderful Great Ormond Street saved my son’s life. But through this experience, TITS UP was born and we are here today to celebrate and talk about real moments, while lifting each other up and being utterly major.

SOPHIA COOK

Digital creator

Discovering that I was pregnant again while living in a Travelodge with a four-month-old and a girl puppy in season, while filming a TV renovation show. The timings were similar but I couldn’t have imagined that the elected C-section would be scheduled on the same date as my son’s birthday. They are exactly one year apart to the day, with our daughter being a Covid baby. 2020 was a wild time.

PIXIE LEVINSON

Photographer

I’m due early May and the thing that’s properly gone tits up is my sleep. Between the lovely combo of acid reflux, random vertigo and a baby who apparently trains for kickboxing every night, getting a full night’s rest has become more of a theoretical concept than a real one.

LILY SILVERTON

Self-development coach, speaker, writer and founder of ‘The Priorities Method’

Everything went tits up for me when my father was diagnosed with brain cancer five days after I found out I was pregnant with my second child. It was a wild experience growing a life while losing one, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. But it definitely helped me understand my priorities and what is truly important in life — as the hard times often do! 

Lily Silverton is a mindset and behaviour change coach and author of Prioritise This: a practical guide for thriving in a world that won’t slow down, available at Waterstones.