Alex Jones has opened up about becoming a mum at 39, revealing she was in agony when she started breastfeeding.
‘The One Show’ presenter and her husband Charlie welcomed their son Teddy into the world last year, but she says the early days of motherhood were tough.
She told You magazine: “I tried really hard to breastfeed, but I had no idea it would be so excruciatingly painful. Often I’d be feeding with tears cascading down my cheeks.
“Charlie is a fantastic support and now I think our relationship is a lot stronger because of Ted, but we struggled to find a way to even like each other sometimes in those early days.
“Once I sat upstairs in our bedroom for about four hours trying to feed Ted, feeling so upset and isolated.
“Or there would be nights when I was waking to feed Ted every two hours; Charlie would be snoring beside me while I felt murderous.
“It’s not your partner’s fault he can’t breastfeed, but it’s tough.”
Alex admitted it took months for her and her husband to adjust to their new life.
“He said, ‘You don’t want to have fun anymore.’ I was totally crestfallen,” she said.
“Again, before Ted, I’d thought, ‘It’ll be fine; we won’t change as a couple,’ but you can’t help it: after a baby your energy’s depleted and you have double the responsibilities you had before. There are a lot of pressures.”
The presenter, who has written a book on motherhood, added that she was “lucky” to have a baby later in life.
“We have been lucky and I know it’s not so easy for everybody, but I hope my story gives some peace of mind to older women who worry that they are going to have problems with their fertility,” she said.