London Marathon for MumsAid

As some of you may know, when I had Otis in January 2021, I had a traumatic hospital experience, which led to a difficult post-partum period. About 4 weeks after giving birth, I experienced the start of what would be my journey with post-partum health anxiety, and the hardest year of my life so far.

MumsAid are a local charity providing pregnant women and new mums with specialist counselling for emotional or mental health difficulties. In my opinion, both women's health and mental health are severely underfunded, and maternal mental health is often overlooked or stigmatised (at least in my experience). Charities like MumsAid are an extremely valuable resource in helping new mums going through extremely difficult times, when they are already at their most vulnerable. I was fortunate to access several sources of support, but not all women have the same options. Without the councilling and support that charities like MumsAid provide, and provided me, many mums would not have the tools to find the light in some of their darkest times.

I have always enjoyed running, and this will be my third marathon. However, through everything, I didn't have the confidence to run again post-partum, and consequently hadn't run in 2 years. I entered the London Marathon ballot, as I do every year, and got a place. Although it seems a baptism of fire, I've remembered why I love running, and wanted to make sure that I raised money for something important to me. I'm not aiming for a PB, or even a fast time, but if I can complete the marathon, enjoy it, and raise money to help other women that struggle post-partum, then I'll finish happy.

Zoe x