OLIVIA SIEGL is the proud owner of two tiny humans and creator of popular parenting blog, The Baby Bible; a funny, honest and straight talking blog covering everything from post-baby vaginas to Postnatal Depression, uniting mums worldwide to be able to talk about ALL areas of motherhood – NO judgement!
After suffering with severe Postnatal Depression and Postpartum Psychosis following the birth of her two daughters, Olivia set up The Every Mum Movement, a global movement that empowers mums to take care of their maternal mental health and speak more openly and honestly about motherhood. The movement has gone from strength to strength, gaining support from the NHS HEE, NCT, Netmums and high profile celebrity parents, as well as invitations to speak at the Department of Health and the Houses of Parliament. Olivia also speaks at events and in the media on her experiences of maternal mental health to help raise awareness.
She loves writing and is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post, The Metro and leading parenting sites.
Copyright
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2018
Copyright © Olivia Siegl 2018
Olivia Siegl asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Ebook Edition © January 2018 ISBN: 9780008214869
For my amazing little girls, Éva Loren and Isla-Mai, and my
awesome husband, Jamie, for always believing I could do this. And
to every Mum who has ever doubted themselves – this is for you
Me, Jamie and our awesome tiny humans
INTRODUCTION
A QUICK HELLO (AS I KNOW YOU’RE BUSY KEEPING YOUR TINY HUMAN ALIVE)
Dear Every Mum,
No matter how you give birth; no matter how you feed your tiny human; no matter if you are a co-sleeper, a breast-feeder, a baby sling wearer, a baby-led weaner, a home-grown organic mum, a home-opened fish finger mum, a gentle parenting mum, a ‘Get your shoes on RIGHT NOW before I turn into the Hulk’ mum, a stay-at-home mum, a back-to-work mum, an ‘I’m not getting dressed today’ mum, a mum struggling with her mental health, a mum feeling judged, or a mum feeling on top of the world …
NO. MATTER. WHAT. You, my gorgeous and magnificent new friend, deserve the right to enjoy motherhood.
FOREWORD
A TINY WORD FROM MY TINY HUMANS
A little like trying to get through a HOT drink of anything nowadays, I similarly, couldn’t get through the intro of this book, without my tiny humans sharing their thoughts on it all. Over to you girls …