Feeling a loss of identity

Hi, my name is Nicole Chapman, I’m a personal trainer online coach and pre and postnatal specialist. Here are my top tips for managing your physical or mental wellbeing through motherhood.

So one thing that I can completely relate to and experienced myself, and I feel like every mum goes through, especially in those early postpartum days, weeks months, is that sense of losing ourselves through motherhood and losing our identity.

Now so many changes have happened, to our body physically, but also on our mind. And suddenly we’ve gone from just thinking about ourselves and everything’s about us to looking after these little ones and everything’s about them. You become, it’s Sophia’s mom or so-and-so’s mom, and it’s remembering who you are as well.

So noticing that these changes are happening and that if that you are experiencing things like a pelvic floor dysfunction, to make sure that you are seeking out a women’s physio. I remember when I was little watching my mom she’d cough and cross her legs and we were told that that is normal, but we are opening up conversations about it now. And it is normal, but we don’t have to accept it.

So making sure you are seeing a postnatal professional in your postpartum training and building yourself up from the inside out, making sure you’re not skipping those foundation stages, you’re building up your core. You’re not setting unrealistic timeframes to get yourself feeling fitter and stronger, and just making sure that you are remembering what is important to you and making sure that that is factored into your day.