The pictures of Kate Middleton standing on the steps of the Lindo Wing in 2013, cradling an hours-old Prince George, made many people who have given birth wince a little. Sure, every birth journey is different, but having had two very different labours of my own, I can confidently say that putting on a pair of heels and having my hair blow-dried just hours after either one would have tipped me into complete meltdown. (For context, after my first, a midwife had to hose me down like a baby elephant because I felt too weak to take a proper shower.) Which is why the unveiling of a new statue of a postpartum mother on those same steps, 12 years later, feels so significant.

Mother Vrit outside the Lindo Wing at St Marys Hospital Paddington.

Mother Vérité outside the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington.

Commissioned by Chelsea Hirschhorn, founder of baby and parenting brand Frida, and brought to life in bronze by British digital sculptor Rayvenn Shaleigha D’Clark, the seven-foot Mother Vérité stands tall and proud, cradling her newborn child. Her breasts are engorged – if you’ve known that particular pain, you won’t forget it in a hurry – and her only clothing is a pair of disposable postpartum pants, half-covering a still-swollen belly.

Rather than the polished birth announcements we’ve come to associate those steps with, this statue represents the raw and unglamorous reality of what the fourth trimester looks and feels like for most women – and it’s something we don’t see much of. After her Lindo Wing photo op, Mother Vérité will spend time in Portman Square for Frieze, and in Miami for Art Basel, before returning to London long-term. And let’s face it, we need her here.

An audit by Art UK in 2021 found that only four per cent of London’s public sculptures depicted named women – fewer, it turns out, than the number in the city depicting animals. And as for statues of women in the immediate aftermath of birth? Zero. So if this is the level of representation we’ve become accustomed to, then what does that teach us about our value? And the value we place on motherhood specifically?