It's funny, the initial stages of pregnancy were so fragile, I felt anything but powerful. You're walking around, carrying this secret around, feeling secretly excited, secretly terrified, and let's be honest, in many cases, not-so-secretly nauseous. I remember when I found out I was pregnant, I looked down at my stomach, realized life was about to dramatically change, and then started walking very slowly (weird, I know), as if this precious little peanut might drop out at any moment.

The reality was, as my pregnancy progressed, I started to really feel an inner strength (once I was through kneeling on my bathroom floor, that is). Strength, that I was responsible for this little person growing inside of me, and strength that I had to now do everything I could to protect it. That didn't just mean physically, that meant in work and in life. Doing the right thing, being a better person, trying to make the world a better place, being strong enough to challenge what I saw to be wrong, and to try and improve the world this little person was about to arrive in. There is a moment, an epiphany of sorts, when you come to the conclusion, that amongst the greatest gifts you can give to your unborn child, is a safer, better, place to live. At work, I became laser-focused, not just on achieving certain results or KPIs (before I left for maternity leave), but also on setting an example for other women in the workplace; that pregnancy was in no way an inhibitor to their career. I owed that to myself, to them, and to my unborn child. In my personal life, I became aware of the people around me, I suppose, less selfish, and also, how crucial these people would be in the life of the new person who was going to arrive.

I did feel elements of ‘IS THIS NORMAL’. I had no girlfriends who were mothers. No bump buddies, no one to tell me that my skin pigmentation and swollen ankles were totally normal, and wouldn’t stick with me forever. My friends and family were incredible to me, but sometimes, what you really need, is someone who has ‘been there, done that’. There is something very special, very empowering, very uniting about being able to seek that type of support.

I also felt, for the first time, like I was never alone. I'm an only child, so I'm very used to having my own space, but all of a sudden, there was a little person along for the ride. I became aware of my surroundings, the music, the conversations, and my own internal stress! As someone who is not a fan of exercise (I am a lazy girl at heart), I started to feel very passionate about looking after myself with, yoga and guided mindfulness, which maybe also gave me a different type of strength I hadn't experienced before.

When I speak to other women today, or when I observe the conversations other women are having on Peanut, I see the strength that women can bring one another through pregnancy. By sharing their own stories, anecdotes for dealing with morning sickness, laughing about the fact that MORNING SICKNESS IS NOT LIMITED TO THE MORNING, supporting each other when dealing with that first scan, or women doing this without a partner, that solidarity of women supporting one another means pregnancy can be empowering. It doesn't mean we can all go and win the Open pregnant, or run for Office, but, it does mean that there is no reason for pregnancy not to empower you in your attitude about what you can achieve, what you can do, what you can change.