The Juggling Act

Having successfully navigated the juggling act of looking after children whilst working a busy job, this series' guests share their pearls of wisdom. Find out the tried-and-tested recipe for any fussy eater, and hear which gadgets transformed breastfeeding from stressful to straightforward.

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Performing in front of thousands of fans comes naturally to Girls Aloud star and mother-of-one, Nadine Coyle. Motherhood, on the other hand, was terrifying. She tells The Telegraph's Claire Newell how one crucial piece of advice from her sister helped her get over the ‘crippling’ anxiety she felt as a new mother, and shares her own top tips for coping when work trips keep her and her daughter apart.

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The pressures of being a working single mum left Jack Monroe in hospital, suffering from a breakdown. But her ability to feed her son on a shoestring budget also saw her shoot to prominence as a food writer. She tells Claire Newell why she wishes she'd asked for help sooner when times were tough, and why she believes that upping benefit payments for low-income families would see the government save money in the long-term.

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Columnist and author, Bryony Gordon knows what it’s like to hit rock bottom - and to bounce back. Following a twenty-year relationship with alcohol and drugs, she tells Claire Newell why becoming a mother gave her the strength she needed to turn her life around, and to reinvigorate her career.

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Sam Smethers spent over five years calling on the government to do more to help working mothers. As the chief executive of the UK’s leading women’s rights charity, supporting women was her bread and butter. But last year, she decided to give it up to spend more time with her own family. She tells The Telegraph’s Claire Newell how she knew it was the right time, and why she thinks mothers worry more than fathers. 

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Andrea Jenkyns and our host, Claire Newell have something in common. They’re both reluctant ‘geriatric mothers’, having given birth over the age of 35. The Yorkshire MP tells Claire how, three years on, she’s struggling to shift the ‘baby brain’, and why being married to a fellow parliamentarian wreaks havoc on childcare.

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To the outsider, she has it all: a stellar career, a family and even a seat in the House of Lords. But Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith tells The Telegraph’s Claire Newell she hasn’t always been a master juggler - and she’s not afraid to admit it. Plus, the Tory peer reveals just how vulnerable she felt returning to work, and calls on companies to make flexible working a more viable option.

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On a normal day, CEOs like Emma Pinchbeck have enough on their plate. Then add to that a newborn baby. And a pandemic. The Chief Executive of Energy UK tells Claire Newell how Covid-19 left her returning to work without childcare, and having to breastfeed on calls with Downing Street.

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It's a man's world - but our first guest is trying her best to change that. Stella Creasy made history as the first MP to get maternity cover. She tells Claire Newell why parliament hasn't always made parenting easy and why she believes the lockdown is disproportionately affecting women. Plus, she reveals how she’s been discouraged from taking on big roles because after having a baby.

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Can you really have it all? Join The Telegraph's Claire Newell as she finds out whether successful women have managed to strike the elusive balance between baby and boardroom, starting with Labour MP Stella Creasy. Subscribe to this feed to make sure you don't miss it.

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