Blog by Donna Sutton, Active Lincolnshire Project Lead

And just like that, a year has passed. They say time flies, and it really does… and apparently at super speed when you have your second baby. The start of September marked my return to Active Lincolnshire following maternity leave after having my second boy, Harry.

With so much change happening in everyone’s lives these past couple of years, it feels we have just become resilient and accustomed to it. With various Covid restrictions still in place during my pregnancy and just catching the tail end of restrictions when the time came for Harry’s birth I feel this has helped prepare me for the changes I would see in my return to work life. I suppose a lot can happen in a year, and it has. New staff, new strategies, new priorities. But one thing remains, the passion and determination to make a difference.

One of my main pieces of work before going on maternity leave was the Pre & Postnatal Physical Activity programme. Something I really enjoyed working on and something I could literally use my own lived experience to advocate the positive role physical activity can play during pregnancy and on postnatal health.

I also used my learning through this work on my own personal postnatal journey when it came to returning to exercise. I safely returned to volleyball 12 weeks post birth as well as enrolling onto Bumpcamp; a fun and effective weekly workout session where I was able to bring my baby and utilise him within the session, or just have him with me. It offered a great variety of exercise and fitness classes such as boxercise, cardio, strengthening; and the best part was I didn’t need to find childcare! The social benefits it presented, at a time where I could have easily stayed home on my own, were also huge. So thankful for these opportunities, so valuable, more of these opportunities are absolutely needed across the county.

One of my first tasks as I get back into work mode is to set up a network of physical activity providers who deliver suitable and accessible physical activity sessions for pregnant women and new mum’s. This network of professionals will help shape our future pre and postnatal work as well as advise and advocate for more active and healthy pregnancies amongst our child bearing population.

With a keen interest in health, and with the recent growth in this area of the business I am looking forward to getting stuck in and seeing the impact we will have on the county’s health system.