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Maternal mental health By Jess Parson May 6 is World Maternal Mental Health Day. As the day approaches, Jess Parson, jog leader with Mums on the Run Inverurie, tells us how jogging helps her and the mums in her group with their mental welbeing.
I have run since the age of seven, when dad would to take me to the local athletics track. But as I enter my thirties, the reasons why I run seem to be ever changing, not least because of the impact that becoming a mum has had. In January 2017, Finn was born and I’m not sure life has been quite the same since. Running is now more than chasing fast times - it has become an effective way of coping with the pressures of parenthood. Before baby arrives you have all these ideas of how you think it’s going to be and the reality ends up being so different. Days can seem long and I felt that I had lost some of my identity. It was at this point that I really started to understand the power of running and exercise on mental health. As time went on, I was struggling to juggle work, parenthood and exercise, so I decided to be brave and make a change.
stride jogscotland magazine
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Spring 2020
