The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically reshaped maternity care, shifting from embodied, in-person support to virtual, screen-based interactions. While technology offered a necessary bridge to healthcare, it also intensified feelings of isolation, detachment, and distress for new mothers navigating pregnancy, birth, and early motherhood. This article explores the consequences of this shift through the lens of maternal surveillance, examining how digital healthcare practices affected first-time mothers’ experiences, mental health, and sense of agency. Drawing on a pilot study of first-time mothers in the UK between 2020 and 2021, this research interweaves personal testimonies with academic analysis, situating these lived experiences within feminist theories of corporeality and surveillance. The data reveals a paradox: while technology connected mothers to essential care and support networks, it also reinforced feelings of being observed, judged, and ultimately abandoned in their most vulnerable moments. Many women reported experiencing a form of "virtual surveillance"—where interactions with midwives, health professionals, and online communities left them feeling scrutinised but unsupported, surveilled but physically alone. In addition to analysing these accounts, this article employs dramatic storytelling as a method of reclaiming and representing the trauma of pandemic-era birth. Through the retelling of real experiences in performative and theatrical spaces, the research considers how drama and testimony serve as powerful tools for processing and understanding birth trauma. Video footage, imagery, and audience feedback from theatrical interpretations of these narratives further illustrate the impact of dramatized storytelling in bearing witness to maternal suffering and resilience. By merging qualitative research, critical theory, and creative performance, this article seeks to illuminate the complexities of birth trauma within a system increasingly mediated by technology. It asks how digital maternity care reshaped maternal identity, how surveillance shaped the birth experience, and how storytelling—both academic and artistic—can offer new ways to comprehend and reclaim these deeply personal, yet widely shared, experiences.
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Mackay, Antonia
School of Arts
Year of publication: [in press]Date of RADAR deposit: 2025-07-01
Copyright and licence terms to be determined when output becomes available.