Chatting all things motherhood

with the Marketing & Sales Director at Merci Maman

Please can you introduce yourself?

My name is Alix Stanworth and my husband’s name is Stan. I have two girls aged seven & fi ve and we live in Surrey. I am the International Sales & Marketing Director for Merci Maman and have worked there for four years.

Such beautiful girls! How was your journey through motherhood?

I have always wanted to be a mum and didn’t really think anything more than getting married and having children straight away. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out like that. We were unable to conceive for three years. We went through all the standard tests the GP does to check hormone levels, etc. and we weren’t really getting any answers as to why there might be a problem; everything seemed ‘normal’. I underwent a test with the NHS to check to make sure my fallopian tubes were clear, and we met an amazing doctor called Mr Griffi ths. However, we found out that the waiting list was nearly a year and fertility procedures were always the fi rst things to be cancelled. Thankfully, Mr Griffi ths agreed to see me privately and I scheduled a follow-up appointment with him for three weeks later.

He informed me that to get a defi nitive answer as to why I was unable to conceive would mean having an operation called a See & Treat Laparoscopy. There was no doubt in my mind, and we booked the operation for December that year. In usual cases, this operation should take around 90 minutes but mine ended up taking 5 hours. I was then told I had extreme Endometriosis and Polycystic Ovaries.

The good news was that during the operation, he had been able to remove most of the Endometriosis and had cleaned my fallopian tubes as much as he could. I was advised that this was going to be the time when I am likely to be the most fertile. In April the following year, I was pregnant and in December I had my daughter Lottie.

Fourteen short months after, I fell pregnant with my second daughter, Maggie.

Did you have any idea that it would be Endometriosis? Were you familiar with this condition?

I always knew something wasn’t right. I had incredibly heavy and painful periods ever since I was young and was having a really hard time trying to control my weight. I didn’t ever think that I would have problems with my fertility, it’s not something you really give much thought to until you want to have a baby. It was something I was really struggling mentally to come to terms with. It scared me that I may never have children and the implications it could have on my marriage. I had never heard of Endometriosis or the possibility it could aff ect fertility so that in itself was an uneasy thought.

How was your support after giving birth?

After both of my births I had complications. With Lottie, I had a perennial haematoma which was incredibly painful and took months to heal. When it came to Maggie, I had maternal sepsis and ended up having to stay in hospital a while after giving birth. My husband and my family were incredible but my knight in shining armour was my district midwife called Maddie. Maddie, who has now retired came in and took control of the situation. She understood exactly how I was feeling without me even having to explain anything to her. She told my husband to cancel all visitors and showed me techniques to remain in bed and breastfeed; she instantly put me at ease. She will eternally be someone whom I am forever grateful for, and she probably doesn’t know how much she means to me.

And we know that Merci Maman’s yearlong campaign is called #MyJourney. Why is this so important to you?

This year’s #MyJourney campaign is so important to me as motherhood at times, can feel so lonely. The main goal of this campaign is to make sure every woman has a safe, reassuring and understanding platform to share their own motherhood journey. There are so many women experiencing diffi culties at diff erent stages of motherhood and reading and hearing about other people’s journeys can hopefully give some form of comfort and confi dence to know that they are not alone.

What do you love the most about working for Merci Maman?

The thing I love most about Merci Maman is the people I work with. We are predominantly women who support each other within our work and personal lives. We all have complete fl exibility when it comes to our children. You never need to worry about not being able to go to work because your child is unwell or they have sports day, and so on. That fl exibility makes a huge diff erence in my mental well-being and makes sure I have a good work-life balance.

What is your favourite piece of jewellery and what have you chosen to be engraved?

My favourite piece of jewellery is the new Love Links necklace and bracelet. I love how it’s more of a stylish piece in my collection and really does go with everything. I have ‘Lottie & Maggie’ engraved on the front and an ‘S’ on the back for my husband – subtle yet sentimental I say!

Dainty Love Links Bracelet and Necklace