Sam Quek has opened up about feeling ‘constant mum guilt’ as she reflected on returning to work shortly after welcoming her son Zac into the world.
The former Olympian field hockey player is mum to two-year-old Molly and one-year-old Zac, whom she shares with husband Tom Mairs.
Speaking to OK! about feeling guilty, Sam admitted, “I get a lot of mum guilt. They’re only young for so long. I look back at photos, especially of Zac, and I can’t remember the first two months, and then I went back to work eight weeks after giving birth to him”.
When asked if she brought Zac to work with her, Quek revealed, “I didn’t, because my husband is fantastic. I was pumping breast milk for about three months with Zac. But mum guilt still exists”.
“Being here [at Aintree], I’m thinking, ‘OK, I’m going for a drink with some colleagues this afternoon, but I won’t have too many because I want to be on top form for the kids’. It’s constant guilt”.
The former I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here star then went on to open up about the pressure of working on TV as she is now a team captain on A Question Of Sport and co-host of Morning Live.
“You have to strike while the iron is hot in this business. But I also realise that I’m the most dedicated mum I can be, and the happiest wife I can be, when I’m working. I love my independence”.
“I remember being at baby group with Molly for the first time. I said to the other mums that I would be going back to work in three weeks and they were like, 'What, already? Do you not feel guilty?’, and I was like, ‘I wasn’t aware of it until you mentioned it!’”.
Sam added, “People need to understand that everyone works differently”.
Reflecting on the weeks after welcoming her little ones into the world, Quek honestly explained, “I definitely had the baby blues. They say it lasts for two or three weeks, but it definitely lasts for two or three months”.
“Sometimes you’re irrational, and sometimes you read into things, and I think that’s probably tiredness as well. You can eliminate every stress in the world, but if you neglect sleep, you cannot function”.
