Things My Mother Never Taught Me

An interview with a 38-year-old woman named Jones as she tells her mother over the phone that she is pregnant. The video then interviews a friend of hers who discusses the medical emergency that ended Jones's pregnancy and nearly killed her. The video ends with footage of a therapy session in which Jones attempts to work through her trauma.

00:52Copy video clip URL Jones,38-year-old woman sitting at her dining room table, talks about needing to stay in bed for medical reasons. 

02:04Copy video clip URL Jones speaks to her mother on the phone, telling her that she’s pregnant. We only hear one side of the phone call but her mother appears to be unimpressed. “What else is new is your response to your 38-year-old daughter??? Nothing, that’s the biggest news. It’s about time? Well, I guess. It’s kinda exciting for me…” She describes her medical complications, including excessive bleeding. 

05:24Copy video clip URL Jones tells her mother that she’d like a little encouragement. The conversation starts to upset her. 

05:56Copy video clip URL Jones iscusses talks about the phone call. She describes her mother as being shocked. “She says that she’s not gonna make anything [for the child] until she sees it running around.” She relates her mother’s “rotten” experience of childhood.

08:17Copy video clip URL Another woman sits cross-legged on a chair. She describes Jones’s emergency trip to the hospital after a complication from a tubal pregnancy, for which she almost bled to death. She describes the medical details and the efforts made by the doctors. 

12:46Copy video clip URL Jones speaks with a therapist about the lingering trauma from her near-death experiences. They discuss methods for dealing with PTSD. 

17:11Copy video clip URL Jones lies down on the floor and her therapist guides her as she relives her trauma. She gets increasingly emotional

21:48Copy video clip URL Sitting in her chair again, the therapist guides her on another exercise. She imagines talking to her child that was never born. “I’m really sorry for both of us. I guess that’s all… I’m just really sorry.” 

26:20Copy video clip URL An exercise in which Jones chants slowly to release her sadness. The therapist places her hand on Jones’s back. 

29:24Copy video clip URL Lying down again, Jones imagines what she would tell her child if the child were present. 

30:52Copy video clip URL End of video.