To those first-time mums

Hello from the other side.

You can do this. Easy to say, I know, but I promise you that it’s absolutely possible, however much sometimes it seems impossible.
Two years ago, I was you. Sat worried, bewildered, and anxious in a hospital bed wondering how I was going to cope with someone depending entirely on me after somehow letting my body push a 7lb something baby out of ‘down there’. It’s a scary thought that isn’t it? But from experience also the best gift on earth.

I just want you to know, like seriously, that you’re going to rock the hell out of this. Even afterwards when you’ve used half a bottle of ‘spritz for bits’, have a five-day old messy-bun, and that slightly crazed look in your eye after getting about 30 minutes of consecutive sleep at a time – you will be a natural. Nothing worth having comes easy, plus I swear to god you forget about it as soon as that soft, warm, tiny bundle of joy is placed on your chest. That moment will stay with you forever, even now I crave it nearly three years on. It’s blissful.

You’re probably thinking ‘stop painting some sort of perfect picture, it’s unrealistic’ BUT I always found it was so easy for people to talk about the testing bits, the crazy bits, the ‘oh god it hurt’ bits. However, it happens it all ends with the best bit. Please repeat that.

So today, whilst you’re getting ready (and anxious) for your new journey take the time to remember that you are fiercely capable, whatever your birth throws at you. ‘There is a secret in our culture, and it’s not that birth is painful. It’s that women are strong.’