Natalie Barr, 50, has recalled her struggle with motherhood, 16 years after the birth of her first child.
The Sunrise presenter, who shares two children with her film editor husband Andrew, revealed why initially she ‘didn’t enjoy being a mum’ and felt like a ‘failure.’
‘Everything we were shown about motherhood was like something out of a Kleenex commercial! For me, it was the complete opposite,’ she told Good Health magazine this week.
‘I really didn’t enjoy being a mum’: Sunrise’s Natalie Barr reflects on her struggle with motherhood
‘I know I was still mourning dad, but I really didn’t enjoy being a mum.
She added: ‘My baby was up all night and all day, I didn’t like breastfeeding and I just didn’t know what to do. I thought I was a failure.’
At first, the Channel Seven journalist suspected she was suffering from postnatal depression, however she later realised that being a stay at home mum just wasn’t for her.
Family first: The 50-year-old shares two children with her film editor husband Andrew (both pictured here in Sydney in 2006)
‘I was one of those mums who at three months just thought, ‘I wish I was better at this but I’m just not. I actually hate this. I’m a terrible mother,” she told Australian Women’s Weekly last year.
‘I realised I needed to just get out of the house and do something for me and get back to work because I loved it, I loved my job.
She continued: ‘I had to stop breastfeeding which I didn’t particularly love either – sue me – and I had done that for a few months and just had to leave to come back and be a better mum.’
Not easy: ‘I was one of those mums who at three months just thought, ‘I wish I was better at this but I’m just not. I actually hate this. I’m a terrible mother,” she told Australian Women’s Weekly last year
Natalie has been a fixture on Sunrise for 15 years and is mum to two boys 16-year-old Lachlan and Hunter, 12.
She has been married to her husband Andrew for 22 years.
She credited ‘regular communication’ and ‘brutal honesty’ as the secret to a successful marriage.
Veteran journalist: Natalie has been a fixture on Sunrise for 15 years. Pictured here alongside co-host Samantha Armytage