Connection in a time of Coronavirus
Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?
We’re living through a surreal and scary situation. Our lives have changed so much. Yes, we are all ‘in it together’ but that is of little comfort to those heartbreakingly separated from loved ones, those vulnerable, those with chronic illness, and of course, expectant and new mums.
I find it difficult to reign in my anxiety in the face of Coronavirus. I feel sad, angry, fearful, worried, frustrated. I miss my parents and family circle. On some days it seems it might all just be a bad dream – until you go to the shop for supplies, see people wearing masks and gloves, some studiously avoiding you while others force a smile.
Mum anxiety and mum guilt is hardly new, it just feels heightened during this pandemic when expert health information and guidance has become more important than ever. I wonder if my toddler, Sonny, misses nursery, misses his little friends. I worry that he is not being stimulated enough. I must remind myself we are living in extraordinary times and that staying home as a family will save lives.
The internet is an incredible resource but it is also full of conflicting and sometimes incorrect information. Trying to decipher the good information from misinformation is dizzying when you are suffering from sleep deprivation and seismic hormonal changes. I feel I would have benefitted from an app designed to help new mothers and mothers-to-be.
Thankfully, we also live in extraordinary times when it comes to technology. We can enjoy meaningful connections thanks to a smorgasbord of telecommunication apps. Being a new mum, whether living through a pandemic or not, can be lonely and isolating.
As a new mum at 38, I was completely unprepared for the change that a new baby brings. Nothing can prepare you for childbirth. Nothing can prepare you for the love, or the fear, or the indifference of other people who don’t have children. I say this because, until I became a mother, I’d no clue what being a mother entailed and how difficult it is. I didn’t realise how much help you need.
Biamother is a simple to use, a smartphone app that helps you on your motherhood journey, whether that is navigating through pregnancy or the first few years of motherhood. Behind Biamother is a team of maternal health experts, all women, mostly mothers, and several of whom are currently pregnant, so they really know how challenging motherhood can be as well as how stressful it is during the pandemic.
Biamother’s expert-led, personalised guidance comes in the form of a brilliant range of workouts, recipes, meditations, and coaching, I love that you can get support while your body recovers from pregnancy. You just don’t ‘snap back’, you need time and to give your body attention. And thanks to regular fitness assessments, the workouts you receive from Biamother are tailored to your body and your needs.
Maria Elliott, the founder of The Mummy MOT, is a leading expert in helping women’s body recover following childbirth, and advises on postnatal issues such as bladder leakage, tummy gap, pelvic pain, and prolapse. Having had a Mummy MOT one year after my son was born, I can vouch for it being an empowering experience. Maria is also one of Biamother’s maternal health experts.
Staying connected is a vital way to feel empowered during this time. We may be alone, but we can still feel together. I’m doing things for my mental health that I wouldn’t have even entertained when things were ‘normal’. I work out every day, and I make sure I go for a walk with Sonny. I don’t want him to miss out on fresh air, running under the blue sky and through cheery daffodils.
As a journalist and blogger, recording my feelings is a wonderfully cathartic and it ensures they don’t keep swimming around my head. Do whatever it is to keep yourself present, be grateful for what you have right now. Better days will come. Already, when I go out for a walk, the sky seems a little bluer, the trees a little greener. I feel a little bit more alive.
When we emerge from this uncertain time, one this is for certain – we will be different. We will never take hugging our loved ones for granted ever again.
Read more at mumofsonny.blog