I had to save MYSELF FIRST

Heather Powell, 49, was so focused on her son’s needs she neglected to look after her own

- JOHANNA BELL

They say when the plane is going down you should put your own life jacket on first, but as a mum your instinct is to protect your children. So, when my son Harry faced a string of medical problems following his birth in November 2013, I naturally focused on his health and getting him better rather than on myself. It wasn’t until 10 years later, when I was told I was almost in heart failure that I finally put my own life jacket on and saved myself.

I had a difficult pregnancy with Harry, developing symphysis pubis dysfunction (SPD) - stiffness of the pelvic joints, which worsened my existing hypermobility. Being on crutches from 28 weeks made my job as a radiotherapy radiographer impossible so I started my maternity leave early. Hardly able to move, I turned to food for comfort. Gorging on biscuits and crisps, I told myself everything would go back to normal once the baby arrived. But Harry had to be resuscitated following a traumatic delivery and spent 36 hours in neonatal intensive care with sepsis.

When he came home, he struggled with feeding and we were backwards and forwards to hospital during his first year as he struggled to maintain his weight. It was a terrifying time for me and my husband Rich, then 35. As we navigated our new life with its lack of routine, we fell into an exhausted cycle of eating microwave meals and takeaways instead of cooking together. I weighed around 12st before I fell pregnant, a size 12-14, and now I was tipping the scales at 17st.