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About Me
Categories
Video & TV
Press
Work With Me
Buy My MUMBOSS/The Working Mom Book

Tagged International Caesarean Awareness Month

International Caesarean Awareness Month

baby

Being Honest: A Traumatic Birth

April 29, 2019

A post on my experience, having a traumatic birth.

About me

Hi, I’m Vicki, a writer, filmmaker and TV broadcaster. I feature regularly on BBC Breakfast, BBC World News, Sky News and BBC Radio 5 Live.

If you’d like to work with me, please email me at vicki@honestmum.com.

You can read more about me here.

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Order my #1 bestselling book Mumboss (UK) HERE. My debut book is my guide to surviving and thriving at work and at home and offers insight into how to create a digital business, or return to work with greater confidence.

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Thank you to renowned family law barrister Paula R

Thank you to renowned family law barrister Paula Rhone-Adrien @familylawguruuk for her vital guest post on my blog, ‘How do I talk to my child about racism?’. Read an excerpt here and the full post at honestmum.com. Things must change. Thinking of the tragedy of George Floyd, heartbreaking. Thank you Paula for your piece.
Racism may just not be an issue for you. It simply isn’t something you regularly discuss. Or at most, it may be a topic that requires a nodding acknowledgment from you when it arises but that’s it.
So when the alarming killing of George Floyd occurred on 25th May, with the subsequent fury that enveloped thousands of people around the world, you must have had questions yourself about how or why this has all happened. What if you have a child who was also asking you questions?
What could you possibly say to explain the anger, hurt, and destruction that was being beamed into your home?
If your child is asking questions because either they have seen or overheard something then please don’t shy away from answering, be brave and tackle the question head on.
If you don’t have an answer then admit it. Children have a sixth sense for sniffing out a response given to either shut them, or a topic down. If you give them that impression; that there is something to hide, shy away from or be embarrassed about, then that is the impression that they will be left with. This would be wrong, particularly when history tells us that it is those who fail to question or challenge wrongdoing that permits such wrongdoing to fester.
In any event, if you don’t give them an answer, they will look somewhere else and who knows where that will lead!
So what is racism? Basically, it is the belief that members of other races are not as good as the members of your own race. You believe that your race is superior and that you should be treated better than those who are not of your own race.
Children are being taught about race all the time, even in nursery they are taught to describe themselves, their family and their community. They watch TV and will notice differences far more than we give them credit for.
READ the rest of the piece on the blog. Link in the bio.

Visual representation of my life rn 🙈

Visual representation of my life rn 🙈

AD. On a weekend we like to jazz up our breakfasts

AD. On a weekend we like to jazz up our breakfasts a bit here (because life is slow in lockdown, right). The kids are loving what they've named 'cheesy squeezies' aka @primula_cheese tubes which take me back to my uni days and quick breakfasts on the go (I might have been known to eat directly from the tube)! Did you know that Primula was founded in 1924 and has a unique charitable ownership with ALL of their profits going directly to good causes. Have you tried them? Even my fussy eaters love them. #PrimulaLovesToShare

My husband @peter_broadbent isn’t a fan of socia

My husband @peter_broadbent isn’t a fan of social media but it’s his 40th today so I’m sharing a pic of his face on a vegan choc cake I commissioned @theberkshirebakesmith to make, along with few pics (scroll 👉👈) I’ve forced him to take over the years (he’s not a fan of the camera either-opposites attract, right)!...Calm, stoic, cerebral, funny, handsome, considerate and kind, a lockdown birthday is definitely Peter’s kind of party (chilled) 🎉 . I forgot the birthday cake candles so he blew out this big one of mine, and the peonies are really for me under the guise of the lounge party 😹. Thanks for the bubbles @lucygriffithsdotcom too, I’ll be drunk after 1 glass as per (yay) 🍾 😘! ...Love my P and still can’t believe we met at 23 💝

Did you catch Leila @swanny and I on @skynews this

Did you catch Leila @swanny and I on @skynews this morning every hour, on the hour (still screening) discussing lockdown. Inevitable digitisation has accelerated due to the corona crisis and there’s now a real opportunity to create flexible, remote and financially-secure careers online. This is a chance to upskill and potentially thrive. Strange not being back in the studio but I created a makeshift one in my bedroom! Thanks for my beautiful 🌈 necklace @the.jewellery.makers -gift>.

It’s Creative Women Wednesday again, with @lucyg

It’s Creative Women Wednesday again, with @lucygriffithsdotcom and @mammabelle18. Come join in, like, share, comment and self promote, networking with fellow female creatives on the Gram. Simply leave a comment below about your work/business/insta account, tag some creative friends and scroll through all the comments to connect with others at the party. Please do consider sharing the badge in stories or on your grid to let others know about the linky! I’m loving discovering so many new accounts each week 🎨 💻 📱 😘

Missing my old life tonight. I’m definitely not

Missing my old life tonight. I’m definitely not missing my dark hair though. My blonde highlights have been working hard for over 9 weeks, hiding the sprouting greys!

Extract (full post linked in the bio-please read i

Extract (full post linked in the bio-please read it all, word limit here cut me off). My therapist suggested I write 2 letters to myself relating to an insecurity I’m facing. The first is a letter stating how I feel, the second, a response to the first, written as if by a close friend. A powerful tool in rethinking negativity, why not try it. Warning: this might trigger some. Letter to myself: The list of things I hate about myself is long, so long, I’d really bore you if I told you every little thing. To hone in and pick just one thing I hate about myself for the purpose of this exercise, one single worry that overrides the rest, is hard. The smaller niggles would be a nose too big when I smile and too small a top lip I’m too scared to plumpen. The biggest worry by far though is my body image. A body that does not behave. A PCOS and Hashimotos adled figure that literally fights to be fat, day after day. The fact I never feel happy in my own skin, like the world tells me i should, and I never know how others see me or how I see myself, even in a mirror, saddens me. For 30 long and wasted years I’ve hated my body. From a slim child to a plump tween with putty fat, to a yo-yoing teen and adult-three decades on, I still don’t love myself. Not wholly, probably not ever.
On reflection, I’m not sure the catalyst to this level of body shame came from wanting to conform, to look like models in magazines with legs for years. Yes the media played its part but mostly it’s been down to my own body and DNA, the way its needed strict management and control and from an early age. An age where other girls weren’t yet sprouting breasts or worrying about how much sugar they were eating. My body has a life of its own. Small shoulders, big hips, which puts on weight with such ease and always did and my concerns over it, are now making me feel fatigued. Babies, bless their hungry hearts, destroyed my body but 7 years since my second son was born means really, I’m the one at fault not them. I’ve lost weight, lots of weight over the years but it always seems to find me again. Nothing tastes sweeter than mouthful after mouthful of emotions right?...Cont. in the link in my bio 👆

I wish that Iife, right now, resembled this happy

I wish that Iife, right now, resembled this happy photo of me appearing to seamlessly make deadlines while juggling homeschool when it actual fact, my work day starts at 9pm most days and sometimes only ends at 2 or 3 am. I’m not complaining, I feel grateful to have a job when many have lost theirs or are working on the frontline, but after receiving DMs asking me how I’m ‘doing it all’, I wanted to be honest... Some days feel positive and others are so overwhelming, I would quite like to run away, thanks. It’s an exhausting, boring and trying time for many of us and today I described myself to a friend as feeling like Cinderella. My groundhog days are basically cooking, cleaning, caring, teaching and entertaining in that order, in any order, in utter disorder mostly. In many ways, I feel like I’m a better mum in lockdown, my time and attention isn’t spread so thinly as my commute, filming and school commitments have disappeared and my work schedule is far more bearable and staggered so I can give my children my full attention by day. I finally feel more mindful as a mum. I also know the changes I want to make when this period is over. To not sweat the small stuff as much, to spend more time pushing myself out of my comfort zone (painting again and starting new projects/a business during this period has reminded me of that) and also that I’m stronger than I think. What have you learnt in lockdown and how are you feeling?

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