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Hey, I am Ivana!

I am the author of Motherhood – The Unspoken, motivational speaker, award-winning mentor, mother of three mixed-race boys (including twins) & wife to an amazing husband, who is on a mission to create a world where mums don’t suffer in silence. After my twin boys, Henry & Mason, were born in 2016, I struggled with …

Latest from the blog

Read my articles for parenting tips & support.

antenatal classes postnatal depression

Are antenatal classes contributing to postnatal depression?

Updated on February 1, 2025November 29, 2024 Leave a Comment

Feel Like Yourself Again As a Mum

An insanely simple self-care tip for busy mums

Updated on January 3, 2025July 10, 2024 Leave a Comment

new mum gift ideas

Affordable New Mum Gift Ideas

Updated on January 22, 2025June 23, 2024 Leave a Comment

PPD survivor Mumsjourney

PPD Survivor: It would have been easier to have cancer

Updated on January 3, 2025April 13, 2024 Leave a Comment

How I recovered from PPD

Updated on January 3, 2025June 3, 2023 Leave a Comment

ivanapoku

❤️ Creating a world where mums don’t struggle in silence
🤰Mum of twins+1
👀 Featured in @Forbes @BBC
👇 Author of ‘Motherhood - The Unspoken’

Sending a gigantic virtual hug to all new mums out

Sending a gigantic virtual hug to all new mums out there!! ❤️❤️❤️

#newmums #newmoms #newmumma #firsttimemum #firsttimemom #newmummy

Please share far and wide and let’s spread the m

Please share far and wide and let’s spread the message together. ❤️

#newmumlife #newmomlife #firsttimemummy #firsttimemum #realmotherhood #newmum

Am I the only one who feels like we’ve said, ‘

Am I the only one who feels like we’ve said, ‘Motherhood is the hardest job’ so much that it’s lost its true meaning along the way?

I realised it when I heard multiple mums say that it’s not fair that they don’t get a pay check for looking after their kids.

I know where this comes from. As mums, we often feel unseen and unappreciated. Comparing motherhood to a job makes sense in many ways because it highlights the immense effort we put in daily.

But here’s the problem: many have started to take this metaphor too literally over time, and started expecting the world to treat motherhood like a paid profession—and when that validation doesn’t come, they feel frustrated.

But Let’s be real—our kids didn’t ask to be born. We chose them. And while motherhood is brutally hard at times, it’s not a career with a salary. (Even if it were, what price tag could ever match the worth of shaping a life?)

Thinking of motherhood in these terms feels unfair—not just to us, but to our children.

What we really need is more support and open conversations about the reality of motherhood.

What do you think? Have we taken the comparison too far?

#mumlife #momlife #motherhood #parenting #momminainteasy #mumssupportingmums

They tell you about the love, the joy, the overwhe

They tell you about the love, the joy, the overwhelming bond you’ll feel when you hold your baby for the first time. But no one tells you about the quiet loss that comes with it.

No one warns you about the grief that creeps in at 2 a.m. when the world is asleep—but you’re awake, feeling like a stranger in your own life.

No one tells you how much you’ll miss the version of yourself who could sleep in, make last-minute plans, or even just think without the weight of responsibility pressing down on you.

Because the truth is, motherhood isn’t just about gaining a baby—it’s about losing You. Or at least, the You that you once knew.

And that loss? It’s real. It’s raw. And it hurts in a way you never expected.

But here’s what I need you to know: You are not gone.

Motherhood isn’t just about bringing a baby into the world—it’s about bringing a new version of you into the world too. A version that is tired but stronger. Overwhelmed but wiser. A version that may feel lost now, but will one day look back and realize she was simply evolving.

This transformation is painful, messy, and nothing like the picture-perfect version we were sold. But you are not alone in it.

I see you. I hear you. And I promise—the old you isn’t lost. She’s still there, buried beneath the exhaustion, waiting to rise again. And when she does? She’ll be unbreakable.

PS. If this spoke to you, you’re going to love my book ‘Motherhood – The Unspoken’. ❤️ It reveals more truths about new mum life people don’t talk about, and gives you the reassurance that you’re not alone in what you’re experiencing. And that it WILL all pass. Drop me a DM for the link. X

#firstpregnancy #firsttimemum #firsttimemom #newmum #newmom #firsttimeparents #fourthtrimester

Comment "YES" below to unlock the best-kept secret

Comment "YES" below to unlock the best-kept secrets of early motherhood.

#pregnancy #pregnantlife #firstpregnancy #firsttimepregnant #firsttimemum #firstpregnancyjourney #firsttimepregnancy

Hands up if you agree! 🙋‍♀️ #mumlife #mo

Hands up if you agree! 🙋‍♀️

#mumlife #momlife #motherhoodjourney #motherhoodunplugged #mumlifeisthebestlife #motherhoodunfiltered

luxury you ‘make time for’—it’s an illness

luxury you ‘make time for’—it’s an illness that takes over, whether you’re busy or not. The fact that some mums say, “I didn’t have PND, I didn’t have time for it” shows just how misunderstood it still is.

PND doesn’t wait for a free moment in your schedule. It doesn’t care how busy you are. It can hit anyone, at any time, no matter how much they try to push through.

#postnataldepression #postpartumdepression #ppd #pnd #ppdsurvivor #postnatalanxiety #postpartumjourney

Want to know motherhood secrets most mums wish the

Want to know motherhood secrets most mums wish they had known before having their baby? Comment “GUIDE” below! 👇

#pregnancy #pregnancyannouncement #thirdtrimester #pregnantlife #antenatal #prenatal #mumtobe

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