Sarah Close
Sarah Close is an experienced script-writer who won a BBC comedy scriptwriting competition in her twenties and went on to develop scripts for Writersroom, working alongside comedy commissioning at the BBC. Sarah has the distinctive ability to see humour in the most challenging of situations. This Did Hurt, her riposte to Adam Kayโs This is Going to Hurt, charts her journey into motherhood in a maternity care system pushed too far. Sarah also co-runs two Cat Cafes with her sister, providing animal-assisted therapy for local communities in Manchester and Liverpool, and she runs this alongside her role as a wife and the mother of two boisterous children.
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A refreshingly down-to-earth story about one woman’s pregnancy, childbirth โ and the harsh realities of today’s NHS maternity care.
Sarah Close’s journey begins with excitement, anticipation and all the plans that a first pregnancy brings. But it doesnโt take long for those plans to start going awry. Soon she is struggling to navigate missed warning signs, bewildering bureaucracy and unexpected turns โ including a potential disaster that is only narrowly averted. Her story is often dark, but it is also relatable and packed with warmth, wit and unsentimental honesty.
This is a book for every woman whose pregnancy and birth did not go to plan, or who has felt overlooked in a healthcare system under pressure. Itโs for anyone who wants to know whatโs really going on behind the doctor’s curtain โ and for the hard-pressed staff trying to hold everything together.
Highly readable, candid and frequently laugh-out-loud funny,ย This Did Hurtย takes us behind the headlines to explore what happens when maternity care is pushed too far.
REVIEWS OF This Did Hurt
'This Did Hurt is such a compelling read that I found it almost impossible to put down. In an account of her struggles with fertility, two pregnancies and two traumatic births, Sarah Close does a brilliant job of conveying the Kafkaesque experience of dealing with NHS maternity services. Closeโs description of the numerous shortcomings in maternity care in the UK is shocking and sometimes harrowing, but at the same time, she has a lightness of touch that makes the book immensely readable and, at times, very funny. Anyone who is serious about improving maternity care โ politicians, doctors, midwives and policymakers โ should start by reading this book.' Dr Kim Thomas, Birth Trauma Association
