How having my business helped my mental wellbeing.

By Victoria Jennings Founder of Bloom Baby Classes

Birth stories. We all have one.

But what about the stories that follow and the people they shape us to be?

I gave birth to Ana in 2008. It was a traumatic birth. Assisted delivery, use of forceps, and doctors throwing the word ‘emergency’ around for added terror. Physically, I was not in a good place, and it would turn out that I wasn’t in a great place mentally, either.

We never know who will get PND, but with the traumatic birth, plus the fact that Ana cried all day every day due to reflux, I could see that I was becoming a likely candidate. I went on to suffer with PND for the best part of 18 months. It was a constant feeling of impending doom, exhaustion, and not being able to find the joy in anything. I felt every day of it.

I was awful to be around, and it got to the point where my husband started looking for somewhere else to live. I knew that none of it was my fault – Post Natal Depression doesn’t work like that – but I knew that it was my responsibility to try and make things better; for me as much as for my relationships. I’d long been in the habit of making doctor’s appointments and always cancelling. That would need to change. I didn’t want Ana to grow up watching me suffer. I began to force myself to focus on the good in my life. We had a dog, and hearing that exercise and fresh air could really help, Ana, Vince and I would start to go out on daily walks together. We would always play music in the house and I would sing whatever played. This really helped me to bond with Ana, too.

Having struggled with my weight and an eating disorder in my younger days, I’d always had a strange relationship with food. To help me feel and look better during my PND, I started clean eating, and used social media to blog and share recipes and results. Clearly, this was something that resonated with other new mums, as I quickly gained a huge following.

Even though I’d returned to my corporate career when Ana was 4 months old to keep my mind ticking over – as so many parents want and need to do – I wanted to look into monetising the work I was now doing online. It was getting results and building a brand for me through a great following… there had to be something in it. My resolve was strengthened when, after a year back in work, the PND peaked and was made worse by the fact I felt I was never getting to see Ana.

So, I quit, and I retrained as a childminder. Although I was still very much suffering with PND (you don’t just get over it), I went on to have another daughter, and began to enjoy spending quality time with my girls and learning about their development. Having attended some baby classes along the way, with differing results, the idea for Bloom started to take shape. I knew I needed something else, and I felt I could do something else, too.

I guess what I’m saying, is that my PND actually helped make me who I am today, and helped shape everything I’ve built in Bloom so that other parents may see a light at the end of the tunnel. Whilst I hope that the Bloom Baby Classes I’ve created will be the outlet that other parents – suffering from PND or not - might need and benefit from in bonding with their child in a safe, welcoming and developmental environment, I also hope that the opportunity to join our Franchise family will be just what someone needs as they look to take back control in their life. I don’t know where I’d have been without such an opportunity, so now I want to give it to somebody else. Could that person be you?

#babyclassfranchise #myjourney #postnataldepression #franchisor