When I had my first baby I worked in an agency where there were no other mums. I thought that I’d take a year off, because that’s what my friends had done, plus I had a good maternity package that allowed me to.
Some 20 weeks in and I was itching to get back to work. Maternity leave was not the glowy, gentle embrace I had expected. I was extremely unprepared for how hard and how lonely staying at home with a baby was going to feel. Much to the dismay of my NCT class, I went back after six months. I was knackered, but at least I felt I got some of my identity back.
