Feminist Birth & Trauma Consultant | Educator | Speaker
Mara Ricoy Olariaga — known on social media as Matriactivista, and previously as Jesusa — is a feminist writer, poet, birth educator, medical interpreter, and activist.
She has spent many years researching, writing, and campaigning against obstetric violence, and is now widely recognised as a specialist in the field. In 2011, she founded The Roses Revolution, a global movement to denounce birth violence that eventually spread to over 30 countries and was recently featured in an international exhibition on birth.
Mara is a woman in constant search, guided by curiosity, creativity, and a love of connection. She has taught pregnancy, birth, and postnatal education to both parents and professionals for well over a decade — both independently and with the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) in the UK.
Her feminist campaigning extends beyond birth. Like far too many women, she is a survivor of sexual abuse, and has chosen to speak publicly to the press to confront such violence head-on and break the silence surrounding it.
Mara discovered her passion for interpreting in 2010, when she spontaneously interpreted for her lifelong idol, Sheila Kitzinger, at a conference in Spain. She went on to train formally as a Spanish–English medical interpreter during the pandemic and now specialises in reproductive and trauma-sensitive contexts.
She has published three books on feminism and childbirth, as well as a poetic feminist autobiography, and continues to write, teach, speak, and challenge.
She currently lives in Glasgow with her family and beloved dog while deeply missing London, her home of over 25 years, and regularly visiting her native Spain.
“She is always doing or learning something and would love to live a hundred lives for everything she finds interesting.”
Mara, you are the best speaker I've ever seen!!
It's as though you have no script,not even a vague running order of ideas - you listen to the speakers before you and then pick up the ball and run with it! You are clearly so knowledgeable
in not only your field of expertise
but all the connecting and
influencing areas of study/
social/political/historical impact.
It's astounding to witness you,
so (seemingly) effortless in your
passionate (and often funny) yet
logical and totally clear sighted,
objective takes on the situation
at hand.
Educator + intuitive performer = Great!
Lianna Clarck, actress and part of the audience at the Alloa's Festival of women.