Having been a teacher for 15 years, I decided to retrain as a life coach (it took me two years to qualify; I finished the training in 2021) and specialise in mum guilt. Now, I help my clients free themselves of mum guilt and build self-confidence like I did.

In my training, I learned that this guilt stems right back to our childhoods: I’m sure dads feel guilt too, but we live in a patriarchal society that tells us that women have to be perfect and good. In the media, and in society in general, we’re taught that women, especially mothers, should be able to do it all. We should have a career. We should have a relationship. We should look after our bodies. We should be there for our children at bedtime. And when we try to match our life to this perfectionist fantasy, we fail on every level because we can’t do it all. Life is always going to be a 50:50 split of failure and success, and when we make peace with this, we can release the pressure.

“I’m a professional mum guilt coach. These are the 4 simple lessons about regret I wish all mothers knew”