So many of us struggle with anxiety. Having children can feel like opening Pandora’s box – that which is so precious and was so wanted becomes simultaneously the cause of angst and struggle.

There is no single thought which can counteract these irrational ones. But there are actions which could do you good and re-establish balance: Find ways to invest in your own life – remember what it is to be an individual, not a partner or parent. Whatever pre-planning or negotiating is required, try to make space for regular activity just for yourself which you will enjoy and that will remind you that you are a still a single being. Not only will it give you respite from your terrors, it might help you to remember the big wide world and how we all must make our own way, just as your own children will have to.