Art, Motherhood & Creative Health
The Holding Time Milk Line celebrates Bradford mothers through an immersive walking trail of art, poetry, and storytelling. Created by artist Lisa Creagh for Baby Week Bradford, the trail links Family Hubs and green spaces, inviting families to listen, reflect, and connect with local stories of motherhood, feeding, and wellbeing.
I’ve come to realise why it was hard at times in my breastfeeding journey and a lot of this relating to being neurodivergent. As we see an increase in awareness around hidden disabilities, I hope other mums can feel confident to seek help if they’re finding it hard to breastfeed/parent a child with additional needs.
The Royal Society for Public Health announced the winners of its 2024 Health & Wellbeing Awards, with the National Arts in Hospitals Network’s Our National Health Stories winning the Arts and Health category. Holding Time formed part of this national programme, bringing maternal stories and breastfeeding experiences into NHS settings through photography, film and creative health practice.
Bradford will host a range of exciting Creative Health events as part of the Holding Time project, aimed at raising breastfeeding awareness ahead of City of Culture 2025.
The Holding Time Project brought photography, poetry and creative health workshops to Halton Family Hubs across Runcorn and Widnes. Featuring breastfeeding portraits across seven venues, writing workshops led by Rachel New and an audio tour at Norton Priory’s walled garden, the programme created opportunities for mothers to share their experiences of breastfeeding and motherhood. Developed with Halton Family Hubs and Improving Me, the project celebrates mothers’ voices and explores how creative practice can support maternal wellbeing.
Singing Mamas joined with the Holding Time Project Manchester mothers to create a warm afternoon of storytelling and chorus for the end of the writing workshops at Manchester Art Gallery.
In 2018, Holding Time partnered with ONCA Gallery in Brighton to test the idea of a Breastfeeding Hub—a welcoming space for mothers’ voices, interviews, and conversations about the cultural and structural barriers to breastfeeding.
