With a long list of achievements under her belt, Lisa assumed motherhood would be easy compared to her prior endeavours. As she says, she thought highly of her ability to get shit done. To her surprise though, Lisa struggled with the transition as motherhood didn’t provide the feedback and awards she was used to, and felt she was failing because nothing she did would stop her colic daughter from crying all the time. At five months postpartum, she was diagnosed with depression.

Pregnancy and motherhood really forced Lisa to confront the reality that she had past experiences to unpack and behaviours to unlearn - the biggest being her reluctance to ask for help.

Through therapy, postpartum planning, a strong support-system, and a much more self-compassionate attitude, Lisa approached her second pregnancy in a completely different way and is finally enjoying a maternity leave without mental ill health.

At 18 weeks pregnant, Aimee suffered the unimaginable - her waters ruptured. But to the surprise of every doctor, Aimee’s waters resealed and at 38 weeks, Evie, a healthy baby girl, was born.

But her relief and joy vanished when suddenly she felt like she was living the worst case scenario she feared, rather than the happy ending she got. Aimee hid her suffering for weeks, until one day her shocked husband found her in a heap on the floor.

When Ella reflects on motherhood, she talks about two things: firstly, the dream of motherhood that she’d had her whole life, and secondly, the nightmare that she was confronted with when she actually became a mother.

A successful economist and accomplished career woman, Kathryn from MotherUp has always been the quintessential high achiever who needed certainty and control over every aspect of her life. Although, of course, when she had her little girl Liv, Kathryn learnt the hard way that perfectionism and motherhood do not mix.

After weeks of being dismissed by medical professionals and the hospital, Tegan finally received the care she needed when she was admitted to an MBU (Mother and Baby Psychiatric Unit), all thanks to the help of an unlikely stranger.

I spent most of my life imagining motherhood. I couldn't imagine anything else - not a career, not travel, not study - just motherhood. What I didn't imagine, however, was a mental breakdown that sent me to a psychiatric ward only days after my son's birth.

Join me as I share part two of my story where I talk about how my postpartum unfolded in all the ways I could never have imagined.

With a long history of anxiety, I had every intention of not letting anxiety get in the way of birth and parenting. In fact, I spent most of my pregnancy doing everything I thought was ‘right’ to plan and protect my mental health in postpartum. Unfortunately, I was so focused on postpartum that I couldn’t see the anxiety escalating throughout my pregnancy.