Brie Benfell (BB): I am absolutely loving the wild ride of motherhood. Theadora, my daughter, has truly guided me to be the best version of myself. Motherhood has made me a better person and brought a deeper meaning to life. Every mother has their own path to motherhood, but the rewards are the same. It is emotional and it changes you, forever. Pure magic.

BB: My journey has been extremely tough mentally. I have been separated from my family for almost two years and they have missed my entire pregnancy and my daughter’s first year of life. I wish I could hug every mother who has been through a difficult time during this pandemic. As a first-time mum, it’s truly tested my strength but somehow I continue. I am beginning to think every mother is superhuman!

BB: There are A LOT of things I wish I knew! Becoming a mum can be hugely overwhelming, for many reasons. For me, my emotions were flying, both throughout my pregnancy as well as once Thea was born.

Although there is a lot of information out there I never really felt prepared. I became very passionate (and still am) about supporting other mums and mums-to-be so this past year I created ‘The Anjea Way’, on-demand pre- and postnatal programmes covering a wide range of topics all led by a team of international experts, living here in Singapore.

BB: I really listened to my body during my postpartum journey. I let my body heal in my fourth trimester and focused slowly on becoming stronger. As I had a natural birth, the best thing I did was visit a women’s health physio. They helped me with my healing, getting my pelvic floor stronger, and my diastasis recti (ab separation).

You are looking after a newborn but you have to remember to look after yourself. I had postpartum hair loss around month four and suffered from De Quervain tenosynovitis (mother’s thumb) from breastfeeding and the way I held Thea. I always tell mums these two things as they are so common but rarely mentioned and can be rather traumatic especially when your hormones are all over the place!

BB: I think it’s really important for the partner to learn about each trimester and understand what the mother-to-be is going through. Each trimester is riddled with a lot of symptoms and hormones can be all over the place. Try to be relaxed so Mama is relaxed and be ready to help in any way possible.

BB: I was weight training with my husband (who is a personal trainer and is the founder of Thrive Fitness) until my waters broke at 38 weeks. Fitness is a huge part of my life so I was active throughout. Your doctor will guide you on what you can do as every pregnancy is different. My advice after birth is to take it slow and to listen to your body.

I used Anjea workouts my entire pregnancy and after giving birth as they are all targeted for each specific trimester. Trimester four really focuses on re-building strength slowly. We created this as it’s something I could never find! As I got stronger I then started weight training and reformer pilates. After a year postpartum, I started boxing and high intensity interval training (HIIT).