The Book (Coming Soon)
A raw and intimate memoir written by Savannah Jane O'Malley about survival, acceptance and motherhood. This isn't a book about the NICU, this is a book about when a journey into motherhood doesn't go as planned.
What the book is
This is not a book about the NICU. This is a memoir about becoming a mother amidst uncertainty.
It tells the story of becoming the kind of mother I never imagined I would have to be and learning how to find hope when it feels invisible. Through deeply personal storytelling, this true story explores what happens when motherhood arrives through trauma instead of expectation. It
speaks honestly about the complex, contradicting and isolating emotions that often accompany birth trauma and medical motherhood.
Although the story takes place in the NICU, it is actually a story of resilience, survival and the trust it takes to redefine motherhood when nothing, not even a breath, is guaranteed.
Why this story? Why Now?
We are finally talking about maternal mental health—but too often without the authenticity and rawness with which it is actually experienced. Women are praised for their resilience while they silently unravel. They are told to be grateful while carrying trauma they don’t yet have language for, nor the tools to begin to process.
This book exists to help change the motherhood experience and they way it is talked about. This memoir names what so many mothers face when motherhood doesn’t unfold as planned: identity loss, the emotional aftermath of survival, and the complicated love found in uncertainty. This story is not about rare medical circumstances; it is about a universal reckoning with expectation, grief, and hope.
Right now, women are ready not just for awareness, but for honest, shared truths about motherhood—stories that help them feel seen, understood, and less alone.
Why this story matters
I wrote this story because while I was in the NICU—and for years after—I desperately searched for a story of hope that could lessen the isolation I felt. I never found the version I needed, so through retelling my own story, I created it.
Too often, mothers are told to be grateful instead of being truly heard. This is a story where joy and grief coexist, without one canceling out the other. This memoir gives language to experiences that are frequently unheard, minimized, or considered too uncomfortable to listen to.
This book invites conversation, compassion, and recognition of the deeply human experience of coming into motherhood. Its greater purpose is to reduce isolation, make space for the uncomfortable, and ultimately help all mothers feel seen and heard.
Who this book is for
This book is for women whose journey into motherhood did not unfold as they expected. It is for those who experienced birth or medical trauma, who found themselves amidst both grief and joy and the mothers who searched for stories that are often hard to find. It is for readers drawn to emotionally honest, raw human stories—those who would rather sit with complexity than rush toward resolution. And it is for anyone who wants to listen to the stories rarely told, in order to better understand, support, and care for those navigating life outside the expected.
Author Section
Savannah Jane O’Malley is an artist, writer, and mother whose work centers on hope. Her storytelling has resonated with hundreds of thousands of women seeking honesty and connection in motherhood especially when life didn't go as planned.