What my Post-Birth Pelvic Floor can Teach You About Your Career

Have you ever been to a training event where everyone has to go round and share an embarrassing moment about themselves? Well, I figured I’d dive right in (cheesy icebreaker style) and tell you about a super embarrassing moment I had earlier this year.

Don’t panic, you don’t have to share anything with me in return. This is a freebie. Although of course, please do feel free to share your most embarrassing moment with me. I am always up for a laugh – with you, not at you :)

It was coming towards the end of my maternity leave

I was in Primark trying to find some clothes appropriate for work, that hid my baby pooch. A couple of weeks before going back to work and it dawned on me that my ‘work clothes’ no longer fit me. Eurgh. My year of living in maternity jeans and leggings were over, and I needed some slightly more professional clothing.

Anyway, with Adam and T in tow, I gathered some clothes from around the store to try on. That was the easy bit. The perk of having Adam with me was that he could stay with T so I wouldn’t have to abandon my shopping if he had a melt down. As it turns out, that would have been preferable…

So feeling quite smug to have a bit of time alone to try on some new clothes, off I went to join the queue for the fitting rooms. I’d just got into the fitting room, closed the door and it happened.

Get ready to cringe

I sneezed.

That was all it took for my post-birth pelvic floor to fail me, and for me to pee on the floor.

I peed on the floor in Primark!

Yep. Completely mortified!

Thankfully I was still wearing my own clothes and not trying anything on at the time.

Thankfully I was in an enclosed cubicle.

Thankfully I hadn’t drunk that much water that morning.

At that point, I would have melted in embarrassment into the puddle on the floor if I could. I could not believe what had just happened.

I remember feeling my face heating up. My heart was beating so fast.

I didn’t know what to do

What made it worse was that I had nothing with me. No baby wipes to clean up after myself. No phone to ring Adam to ask him to bring wipes.

I can feel my face heating up as I type this! I used my socks to mop it up!! Then I walked out, handed the assistant the clothes I hadn’t even tried on, and left.

Oh the shame.

I feel extra embarrassed to share with you that I didn’t admit to anyone what I’d done. How awful for the next person who used that cubicle! Honestly, I’m sat here weighing up whether I really want to press publish on this blog.

But as you know, life goes on, and here I am today! I actually thought I was over the embarrassment but typing that for you just made me relive it all!!

So why am I sharing that with you?

Because that happened just before I went back to work after maternity leave. It brought up so much anxiety in me. I clearly had a problem with my pelvic floor after giving birth. What if something similar happened while I was at work?!

It got me wondering whether I was actually up for going back to work. It really knocked my confidence.

That little puddle on the floor was my turning point!

I had known for a while that after giving birth my pelvic floor needed some work. I knew I needed to do my exercises. But I never prioritised them.

So it took my pelvic floor failing me in a really public space, for me to commit to doing them.

What does this have to do with your career?

It’s all about the turning point. You might have known for a while that the job you’re in isn’t a good fit, yet you stay. Maybe because you don’t know what else to do. Maybe because you’re not sure how to get past the overwhelm. Maybe because you’re not sure how to find a career that fits around your family. Maybe because of something else.

Often when a woman becomes a Mum, it can spark a turning point in her career. She realises that her career has to feel worth it for her to pay someone else to look after her baby. Sometimes the turning point comes later, maybe when children go to school.

There are 2 key steps to making a career change:

Step 1: Admit something needs to change

Step 2: Do something about it

Have you hit that point where you know something needs to change in your career? What’s holding you back from taking the plunge?

Is it because you feel overwhelmed? You know you don’t want to stay where you are but have no idea what you want to do instead. I can help! Sign up for my End Career Paralysis mini course today

Shh PLEASE don’t tell anyone about my Primark puddle story OK?! It’s between you and me.