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Parenting

04th Apr 2018

Alex Jones says she was ‘deluded’ going back to work so soon after giving birth

Orlaith Condon

The new mum says she regrets how quickly she went back to work after welcoming her first child last year.

Alex Jones welcomed her first child in January 2017, however, says her return to work on BBC’s The One Show was a “nightmare”.

Featuring on Giovanna Fletcher’s podcast, Happy Mum Happy Baby, Alex admitted that she now thinks she went back to work too soon after welcoming her son, Teddy.

“I went back too soon. I was still trying to feed going back to work,” Alex said of going back just three months after giving birth.

“After the meeting, I’d try and express, then go into the rehearsal, and go back and try and express a little bit more, and my milk was in the fridge with all the food being given to the guests.

“I was completely deluded. I was like, this is not working and this is a nightmare.”

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Alex went on to reveal that the stress of trying to feed her son eventually resulted in her giving up altogether.

“I thought, I really hope people out there will understand what’s happened here.

“Of course, you can imagine, there were some comments that were really upsetting to read but there’s nothing I could do about it. It destroyed my confidence in terms of trying to feed and be back at work.

“So, by four months I had to give in to formula completely. I was combining but it just wasn’t working.”

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However, while the mum-of-one says she feels she wasn’t ready to return to work, she also admitted that even if she returned later, she still wouldn’t have been ready.

“Whether it’s three, six, nine months or even a year before you return, it’s unlikely that any of us will feel truly ready to go back to work.

“But these days, it takes two salaries to raise a family yet, incredibly, we are still branded as selfish, ambitious, unloving and unreliable.

“What we really are is nothing short of wonder women, achieving the impossible on a daily basis, and nurturing children who will benefit by watching strong and successful mothers and follow in their footsteps.”

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