Chloe Madeley: Becoming a mum

Congratulations on your pregnancy! How are you feeling about becoming a mum?

Thank you! How I feel about becoming a mum is complicated – it always has been. I think women get lumped into these black and white categories when it comes to motherhood and their life choices: She’s so maternal, she’s desperate to have kids. She’s a career woman, she’s too selfish to have kids. She can’t have kids. She’s a stay-at-home mum.

But like everything in life, it’s so much more complicated than that, and is often a mix of several of the above. For a long time, I didn’t know if I wanted kids. Then when I realised I might not be able to, I wanted my options back! Now I’m pregnant, I constantly flit between “I’m so unbelievably happy this is happening”’ and “Oh my god, have I ruined my life?!” Women and motherhood isn’t always as visceral as others presume, it is, like most things in life, complicated.

Is James excited to be a dad?

Yes! Finally! It’s taken him eight months to get his head around it, ha! But he’s finally there and is super excited now. He’ll be an incredible dad and I am really excited to watch him in that role.

You’ve spoken previously about your struggles to conceive, what would you say to others on similar journeys?

I was very lucky in that for me, while it wasn’t quick or easy, it was also a case of patience and perseverance.

After 2 years it finally happened, I think largely because instead of continuing to time it around ovulation etc, we just decided to treat every day like I was ovulating! After a few months, that seemed to do the trick.

I would say seek out specialist help and advice and try to remain as pragmatic about it all as humanly possible, swinging from branch to branch like Tarzan. Because you need to remember that emotional stress has a huge hormonal impact on the body, which will absolutely play with your cycle and consequently, your fertility. Easier said than done, I know, but try.

You’re a qualified fitness coach, personal trainer and nutritionist. How have you adapted your own exercise regime and diet during your pregnancy?

In terms of training frequency, I’ve reduced it from 5-6 days a week to 2-3 days a week, simply because there are more days in the week that I feel physically fatigued now.

The intensity of my training also had to come down a notch by the end of my second trimester when my respiratory system became more taxed, so I probably train at about 50% of my usual effort now.

And finally, I had to cut all abdominal work because of round ligament pain in the first two trimesters, and in the third because of the general size of me! But it’s fair to say a lot of women carry on with all the above without any problems at all.

In terms of nutrition, I’ve just tried to eat as healthily as possible (failing miserably 50% of the time!) and really focus on my iron intake, as I developed iron deficiency anaemia in my second trimester, so lots of red meat, kidney beans, greens, dried apricots and nuts!