From Abbey Clancy to the Duchess of Cambridge, celebs who have opened up about mum guilt
From worrying about whether you’re reading the right stories or feeding them the healthiest dinner, to spending quality time and finding a home/work/life balance that works for you, being a mum is no easy feat.
And with it comes inevitable guilt – mum guilt. While you might think that celebrities wouldn’t suffer, thanks to personal assistants, nannies, large tech-filled homes, cars and incomes, you’re wrong.
Model Abbey Clancy revealed to OK! magazine that she suffers with mum guilt and she’s not alone – 68% of new mums feel guilty, according to a survey by Good To Know, and even the Duchess of Cambridge has revealed she is not exempt.
So if you are feeling the guilt today, take heart from these women on the international stage who are all just getting through day-by-day, too.
Abbey Clancy
The 34-year-old is mum to four children – Sophia, eight, Liberty, four, Johnny, two and Jack, nine months, and married to former footballer and now popular podcaster Peter Crouch. Speaking to OK! Magazine, she revealed that the guilt doesn’t come from outsiders, it’s more something she puts on herself.
“I’m still trying to figure the whole work and mum-of-four dynamic. I think for any mum who has to or chooses to go to work, you still get stuck with that mum guilt,” she says.
The Duchess of Cambridge
Yes, even royalty suffer! Speaking on the Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast with Giovanna Fletcher, Kate says she ‘’absolutely” suffered with mum guilt. Adding: “And anyone who doesn’t as a mother is actually lying. Yes – all the time.”
Mum to George, six, Charlotte, four, and Louis, one, the Duchess describes herself as a hands-on mum. “There’s such a pull, but I am such a hands-on mum, and whatever you’re doing you want to make sure you’re doing the uttermost best job you can for your children,” she confessed.
Serena Williams
The tennis pro returned to work (AKA Wimbledon Centre Court) less than a year after having daughter Olympia, but admitted in a heartfelt Instagram post that she had been feeling like she wasn’t a good mum.
“It’s totally normal to feel like I’m not doing enough for my baby,” she wrote. “We have all been there. I work a lot, I train, and I’m trying to be the best athlete I can be.”
Eva Mendes
Married to Ryan Gosling, and mum to daughters Amada and Esmerelda, Mendes is also a Hollywood actress – all glitz, glamour and mummy time, right? Not so much.
She confessed to E! news that she wished someone had told her about the guilt she would feel, saying: “I don’t know how I find balance, because I think it is like a day to day kind of struggle, you know?
Chrissy Teigen
Outspoken on social media, the model, mum-of-two and wife of singer John Legend uses her fame to support other working mums who might be struggling.
She has said that mum shaming, where people troll her for anything from feeding her children chicken to having the TV on in the house too often, can exacerbate feelings of mum guilt.
Speaking on the Today show to promote Pampers’ ‘share the love’ campaign in February, she said: “Hearing that nine out of 10 moms don’t feel like they’re doing a good enough job is terrible.
“We’re all so worried that we’re not doing all that we can, when we really are.”
PICTURE: Ian West PA
