Millie Mackintosh reaches out to mothers on Instagram as she admits she felt ‘scared’ and ‘exhausted’ after giving birth to her first child, Sienna

Millie Mackintosh took to Instagram to reach out to mums on Wednesday, revealing she felt ‘scared’ and ‘exhausted’ after the birth of her first child.

The former Made In Chelsea star, 34, who welcomed her eldest daughter, Sienna, with her husband, Hugo Taylor, in May 2022, started dealing with ‘baby blues’ after becoming a first-time mother.

Millie, who gave birth to her second daughter, Aurelia, in November 2022, shared a candid post in partnership with parenting community The Juggle.

The actress admitted that while she couldn’t stop crying after her pregnancy, she also felt “the happiest she’d ever been” when she posted a sweet photo with her eldest as a newborn.

She captioned the post: “How I felt then… Emotional. Excited. Anxious. Exhausted. Got out of hand. Guilty. So full of love. Confused.

‘In the middle of the baby blues where everything felt overwhelming. I was the happiest I’d ever been, but I couldn’t stop crying. I didn’t understand why I found it difficult, why I felt sad and why I wasn’t always happy.

‘What I would tell that person now… many things, but mainly that no one knows what they are doing in the beginning, it is really tough! It’s okay not to feel happy every minute of the day and it’s okay to cry, but it does get easier.

“Motherhood will intensify your struggles with your mental health, but you are stronger than you think, and you will figure out how to be the best version of yourself for your girls.”

‘I also told myself that the days seem long, but the years are so short. My oldest daughter turns four today and it feels like just yesterday we met for the first time. So while everything feels big, look for the small moments, slow down and take it all in.

“That’s why I’m supporting @thejuggleuk @graziauk and @MMHAlliance in their goal to raise awareness of maternal mental health, because every mother deserves to feel seen and supported.”

Millie’s openness resonated with her followers, as many flocked to the comments section to share their own experiences with new moms.

One wrote: ‘I’m there now with my two week old little girl. Very overwhelmed and feelings of anxiety are triggered so easily. I also have a 5 year old boy and I feel like the luckiest mother in the world, but I also find the early newborn stage very difficult and did it the first time.

‘It seems like I’m closing down and I can’t prevent it. I see there are many other mothers who feel the same xxx’

‘Such a good cause – I was fine after having two boys but had terrible anxiety after my daughter – all focused on getting sick (constantly thinking I had cancer, MS, heart problems). I stupidly didn’t think it was post birth because I wasn’t sad in the obvious sense… just hopeless, anxious and scared all the time – this was 20 years ago now but I thought I’d post it in case anyone else experiences it’

‘Thank you for this! I notice that I get overwhelmed and overstimulated so easily at the moment.

‘I’m trying to slow down and appreciate the little things with my beautiful four-month-old son, like sleeping on me, which she is doing at the moment! Before I know it she’s too big for that.’

Millie is often open about her emotions, as her post comes just weeks after she shared a nude photo of herself crying in the bath. She admitted she was “struggling with a rough few months.”

She shared a photo gallery with her followers on Instagram on Thursday, in which followers were able to learn about the anxieties about motherhood and the difficulties she faced with the body image she had experienced.

She could be seen resting her head on her hand as her mascara-stained eyes looked away from the camera.

Millie revealed in the post that although the past few months have been tough, she is on the other side and doing work to feel good.

She wrote: “Social media can be fake sometimes. Here are some truths about me.”

The former fashion label owner admitted she worries she’s not getting the hang of motherhood as she resorts to turning on the TV for her kids when she loses her temper.

She also said that she finds messy play “hard at home” and soft play “really overstimulating” because it sends her into a spiral, but that she feels bad because the kids love it.

She said; “I don’t want to look back and think I was too busy cleaning up than playing. I don’t always feel like I’m the mother I want to be.’

She told her followers: ‘I have become more aware of the negative thoughts I have about my body.

‘I know we are all different and that is what makes us all so special, but some days I get caught in a spiral of negative thoughts and comparisons to others.

‘I’m working on it in therapy because I want to be kinder to myself and feel good again.’

‘I love that I can travel with my work and see new places, but mom guilt always creeps in. When I’m at work, I feel bad that I’m not home with the girls, but when I’m home with the girls, I feel bad that I’m not working.”

The star shared the practices that have helped her make a comeback, revealing that she rarely goes out at night, prioritizing her sleep and early mornings with her children over her social life.

Millie recently revealed one of her top methods for creating positive change in her life in an article for Grazia in February.

She uses habit stacking, which means adding mindful and self-care activities to her daily routines, such as alternating doom scrolling with positive affirmations, brushing her body to promote circulation while running her bath , or integrating cold water droplets into her day.

She wrote, “2024 is definitely my era of self-development. Focused on being the best version of myself, both mentally and physically.’