PERFECTION REJECTION!
to leave you feeling exhausted. These are all
positive ways to reduce your stresslevels,
alongside eating as well as you can,
taking gentle exercise, and having
more time to relax.’ By channelling
these perfectionist feelings into
things that you do have control
ov er, whether that’s relaxing,
what you’re eating, or takingtime
out for yourself, you’re putting
steps in place to look after
yourself and your baby.CHECK YOUR GOALS
If you find you’re setting yourself
goals for things that are goodforyou
and your baby – eating five portionsof fruit
and veg a day or going to a pregnancyyoga
class twice a week – then feelingfrustrated
that you haven’t managed todowhatyouset
out to, it’s time to reassess whetherthesegoals
are achievable for you, no matterhow much
you want them to be! ‘Setting high goalsand
then not meeting them is more stressful than
working towards a more manageable goal,’
says Dr Rebecca. ‘So, if you’re feeling
frustrated about something you want to do but
haven’t been able to, check this goal with a
partner or friend and ask them whether it’s
realistic. If it isn’t, get them to help you set a
more manageable goal.’ For example, if you’re
putting yourself under pressure to eat your
five-a-day but morning sickness, no energy or
having no time to get to the shop is preventing
you, discuss what you could do instead. Could
you aim to have an apple as an afternoon
snack, would melon ease your morning
sickness, or could your partner stock the
cupboards with fruit or chop some up for you
to nibble on when you get home?REDUCE YOUR EXPECTATIONS
‘If you do want that biscuit instead of an
apple, or to relax on the sofa instead of
going for a walk, that’s absolutely fine,’ says
Dr Rebecca. ‘Putting pressure on yourself to
do the “right” thing, isn’t always what’s bestfor you at that time. If going for a walk
is going to leave you tired and burnt out,
relaxing in front of Netflix is the best thing
you can do to recharge your batteries.
‘If you’re beating yourself up for
doing this, talk through your thoughts
behind these goals and ask “Why
is this important to me right now?
What would happen if I didn’t
meet this goal or didn’t
do it at all? What
would it feel like?”’
says Dr Rebecca.
‘Acknowledging
that you would
have liked something
tohappen, but it
didn’tfor whatever
reasonand that
nothing bad
happened, can
helprationalise
your‘I felt
conscious about the size
of my bump – people
would often comment on how
big it was. I soon realised that as
long as my baby was healthy it
didn’t matter – and that I couldn’t
do much about it anyway!’
Gemma Millington, 30,
from Doncaster, is
mum to Alice,
four weeks‘We
had building
work done in the six
months before Zac arrived,
and I felt so much pressure to
make sure his room was ready.
But I came to realise that, as long
as Zac had somewhere to sleep, it
didn’t matter, and that the Insta-
worthy nursery could wait.’
Rachel King, 33,from
Nottingham, is mum
to Zac, one