Midwife, Wha?! is the heartwarming picture book that’s letting kids in on life’s early beginnings

The designer and art director Claudine Eriksson recently had the pleasure of embarking on a design project that interwove her personal and professional life. Through her studio, W—E studio she worked on the design and art direction of Midwife, Wha?!: a colourful, creative and inclusive introduction to the world of midwifery and life’s early beginnings for kids (and curious adults), written by nurse and midwife Jo Zasloff, illustrated by artist Haein Kim and published by Nettle Wellness Press.

The seed of the idea for the book was first planted when the designer was expecting her second child. Claudine had been on the search for children’s books about birth or homebirth to read to her two year old daughter, with little success. Turning to Jo Zasloff, Claudine’s close friend and midwife at the time, the designer found that she wasn’t alone in finding a void in material published on the subject: “Jo told me that she had always wanted to make a children’s book, and that she already had a rough draft!” Claudine shares. Naturally, this “led to a conversation about some of the books that W—E had designed in the past, and the idea that if she ever wanted to make this dream a reality, I would love to help!”

Over the years, Jo found that families had always asked for a book on birth, a request that only cropped up more as she moved from being a midwife at hospital births to homebirths, where children and families were more often present for births and keen to have more understanding. Having sat on her initial storyline for a little while, Jo finally decided to push the project onto the printed page alongside Claudine, defining what this children’s book would begin to look and feel in their regular café meet ups in Brooklyn.

Together the pair built the storyboard for an imaginative picture book that follows a midwife, going about her day, introducing kids to ideas surrounding families, midwifery and home birth. “We both used all of our experience with reading children’s books to our own kids to find opportunities to make it even more fun,” shares Claudine. “Jo and I exchanged references from my Swedish children’s book collection, and Jo introduced me to her favourite books from growing up, and what she has been reading to her kids. The handmade illustrations, psychedelic scale, and warmth of the books we researched from the 70s and 90s inspired us to think of this book as a beautiful printed object, equally fun to read and look for kids and adults.”

From this background of visual inspiration, the pair agreed that there may be no better person to bring this story to life than illustrator Haein Kim. As the goal of the book was to visualise topics that might be introduced to kids for the first time which, at first, might feel quite abstract, Haein’s humorous and witty character design and knack for “unusual scale, extreme proportions and a bright and eclectic use of colour”, were exactly what they were searching for, says Claudine. “Haein bridges retro and contemporary, and her intentional ambiguity leaves a lot up to the imagination, she trusts the reader to complete the story,” the designer adds – perfect for curious, imaginative kids.

Each hand-drawn with coloured pencils, Haein’s illustrations trace the shapes of all kinds of figures and bodies to form Jo’s story, adding a sense of inclusivity, abundance and warmth to the illustrations, something that’s also reflected in the language found on the page. Midwife Wha?! is sadly quite unique in its use of gender-inclusive language around pregnancy and birth, but this subtle and powerful choice to not assign pronouns to the midwife’s patients makes Haein’s world building feel all the more large against the landscape of birth stories seeped in traditional, binary models.

The book became a particularly special project for Haein too: “I had no idea I’d be pregnant the same year this book came out. And now I find myself reading it to my baby bump; it’s really beautiful,” the illustrator shares. The publications release this September was a moment to celebrate how much midwives do for pregnant people and “how vital they are for the circle of life”, she says.

A beautiful and intentional printed object made to be loved and worn in, Claudine hopes that the book is read by kids and families “repeatedly, until it falls apart completely”. As for Jo, the author hopes it opens up important conversations about what a midwife actually does, for both children and adults. “I hope it helps demystify midwifery – so many people still don’t really know what we do. I think anyone who reads this will learn something new, whether it’s about the tools we use, the kind of care we give, or even the placenta!” she concludes. “Mostly, I hope it feels joyful and inclusive – and that it helps parents prepare their kids for birth in a gentle, open-hearted way.”