How celebs juggle work and motherhood
SERENA WILLIAMS
The tennis player (36) and husband Alexis Ohanian (35), an internet entrepreneur, welcomed baby Olympia last year. Williams revealed that she nearly died during the birth — she suffered a pulmonary embolism, had an emergency caesarean section and then doctors found a large hematoma in her abdomen. She spent the first six weeks after the birth in bed.
In an Instagram post earlier this summer, she wrote: “Mostly, I felt like I was not a good mum... I read several articles that said postpartum emotions can last up to three years if not dealt with. I like communication best. Talking things through with my mum, my sisters, my friends, let me know that my feelings are totally normal. It’s totally normal to feel like I’m not doing enough for my baby.”
Talking about her busy schedule, Williams added: “We have all been there. I work a lot, I train, and I’m trying to be the best athlete I can be. However, that means although I have been with my daughter every day, I’m not around as much as I would like to be. Most of you mums deal with the same thing. Whether stay-at-home or working, finding that balance with kids is a true art. You are the true heroes.”
HOLLY WILLOUGHBY
TV presenter Holly Willoughby (37,
hinted in January this year that she’s considering a career break to focus on raising on her children. She and her husband, Daniel Baldwin (43), have three children, Harry (9), Belle (7) and three-year-old Chester.
She said: “My biggest challenge over the next few years will be parenting my children as they get older. When they’re babies, you’re constantly thinking about making sure they’re feeding right, that they get to those milestones, that they get to school.
“Then suddenly, as they get older, it’s their characters that are starting to build, and I realise more than ever the weight of responsibility of making sure they turn out to be really good, kind human beings.
“My main focus over the next few years is churning out three grounded, normal, happy, content children, teenagers and adults, eventually. That’s the greatest job I’ll ever do.”
That said, it was announced only last month that the This Morning host will present the forthcoming series of I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! alongside Declan Donnelly. She indicated, however, that she’d be taking the children out of school to Australia as she films the programme.
JENNIFER GARNER
Hollywood actresses may be well-paid, but they’re also in the privileged position of having uninterrupted time at home between films. Garner (46), who has three children with ex-husband Ben Affleck, Violet (12), Seraphina (9) and six-year-old Samuel, loves her time with the children:
“There’s an internal battle. I need to work, and I need to be home with my kids, and the kids win,” she said.
“It’s about getting the kids up and fed, getting one to school, getting the other down for anap,goingtothe grocery store, picking one up from school, getting the other one down for another nap, cooking dinner... I live my life at these two extremes. I’m either a full-time stay-at-home mum or a fulltime actress.”
JACINDA ARDERN
The New Zealand Prime Minister returned to work after only six weeks’ maternity leave. Ardern (38) and partner Clarke Gayford (40) welcomed daughter Neve in June this year. As she prepared to get back to the office, she revealed that she’d continued to read cabinet papers from home as well as consult on any major issues during her maternity leave.
“I’m going to be focused on getting straight back into it,” she said.
And, responding to questions about whether she’d be able to handle her roles as a mother and head of state, she stressed: “I’m not the first woman to work and have a baby.”
SAMANTHA CAMERON
The fashion designer (47) is married to David Cameron (51), Prime Minister from 2010 to 2016, and they have three children, Nancy (14), Arthur (12) and eight-year-old Florence. Their son, Ivan, died aged six in 2009. Cameron was creative director of Smythson of Bond Street, and launched her own fashion label, Cefinn, in February last year. On the brand’s website, it states that Cefinn is “the quintessential uniform for the busy urban woman”.
Cameron revealed last week, in an interview with podcast
It’s a Grown Up Life, that husband David appeared “horrified” when she said she might give up work to raise their children.
“There were moments obviously when I first had children where I would go, ‘Oh darling, I think I might give up work’, and he looked very horrified because he thought I would become someone, not the person that he knew and was used to,” she said.
“I’m lucky that I have a husband who is very supportive of my career, and likes the fact that I work.”