write your mother wound story

Namaste.

Over the span of my career, I’ve worked in medical research labs in roles ranging from lab technician to business and publication manager. Alongside that work, I’ve always been drawn to language, studying publishing and creative writing as I moved through the scientific world. When my path in science came to a close, I turned toward yoga — a long-time practice that eventually became teaching. I taught at a university and later built my own wellness company, an experience that became its own education in entrepreneurship.

That chapter shifted again when I conceived and birthed my daughter with the support of a doula. The experience of birth — and what I now understand as matrescence — profoundly changed how I understood identity and transformation. I became a birth worker and later worked as a maternal mental health hotline counselor. When my daughter’s needs required a different level of presence, I stepped back and returned to the path that had always been quietly present: writing and publishing. I trained as a book coach through Author Accelerator, worked as a book reviews editor at Literary Mama, and began bringing my own essays and poetry into public space.

Now, I am building toward my editorial dream as Editor-in-Chief of The Matrescence Review, a literary publication devoted to creative nonfiction and art exploring the psychological, cultural, and embodied dimensions of matrescence.

What I believe is simple and foundational: writing can change lives. It can move us through layers of healing, help us reconnect with parts of ourselves that have been buried or fragmented, and return us to a capacity for clarity, love, and restoration.

I believe every child deserves to begin life in an environment shaped by safety, presence, and love. My work is committed to exploring how writing, storytelling, and literary practice can support that possibility.

I am open to new projects — particularly those involving writing as a restorative practice, anthologies, maternal mental health, prevention of child abuse, and book development.

You can reach me at: danielle@daniellejernigan.com