The 35-year-old credits exercise with helping manage post-natal anxiety
A mum from Northern Ireland who breastfed during a recent Hyrox competition hopes she can smash misconceptions surrounding exercising during and after pregnancy.
Suzanna Vallely, 35, took part in the competition in Dublin shortly after the birth of her fourth child earlier this year. She shared an image of herself using a portable pump to express breast milk during the competition, receiving widespread support.
The Poyntzpass woman is hoping that by sharing her story, she will help encourage more mums to take up breastfeeding, and also get back into exercising postpartum. It comes as figures from the Department of Health show Northern Ireland has the lowest breastfeeding rates across the UK.
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In July, the Public Health Agency said just over half (51.8%) of mums in Northern Ireland are breastfeeding when they leave hospital, which this number dropping to 36.8% at six weeks. In England, more than half of mothers are breastfeeding their baby at six weeks.
Speaking to Belfast Live, Suzanna said she had always enjoyed exericisng both for its physical and mental health benefits. She said she struggled after the birth of her fourth child, which lead to feelings of post-natal anxiety.
For Suzanna, she found getting back into her exericse routine was a big help in managing this. She said: “I need training for my mental health, it’s a must for me. I trained during my pregnancy and did a Hyrox sim two weeks before having my baby.
“There’s a big thing you see when training while pregnant, people say it’s amazing and you have the bump and everything, then suddenly you have the baby, and you feel like your body doesn’t feel like your own.
“You don’t have this nice, firm bump in your crop top. Especially after having four babies, things just feel differently.
“Due to the emotions and hormones after giving birth, I found myself with postnatal anxiety, and I felt very grateful to get back to the gym.”
The gym Suzanna attends, EST 28 in Bessbrook, supports breastfeeding mums by running post-natal classes, and encouraging women to train alongside their babies where they can breastfeed or express milk at any time during gym sessions.
The 35-year-old said she has faced many misconceptions surrounding exercising both whilst pregnant and after giving birth, and is hoping to show how you can get back into it with the right support.
Suzanna said: “I was in the gym a week after having my daughter to just get out and be around people, and I didn’t think I could train, but they put together a postnatal programme for me.
“People think you shouldn’t do anything until six weeks after giving birth, but that’s not sensible, because you’re lifting a baby all day, you’re getting up and down to the toilet all day. I started with stuff as simple as bodyweight squats, I have a photo of my daughter strapped to me when I was doing this as she was unsettled.
“There are so many misconceptions about exercising postpartum, to say you have a six week sign off, then away you go on to your normal activities doesn’t make much sense when your body has been put under so much pressure. It was important for me to get back into the gym, and it helped me build up that pelvic floor strength, and making sure I was in a good place to go forward and not do any damage.
“I’ve joked that if it wasn’t for getting back into training I’d be in an asylum, but while that’s a joke, exercise has really kept my mental health in check. It’s that time I’m thinking of me, and how my body is moving, and it’s the one time nobody else needs me.”
Suzanna said not only can you get back to the exercise level you were at before giving birth, you can exceed this, as she did this year by taking part in her first ever Hyrox competition. As well as the support from her gym, she credits her husband – who she took part in the compeition alongside – for the support he gives too.
She said by exercising she’s able to be the best version of herself, which helps her be the best parent she can be. Suzanna is hoping she can inspire other mums who may be intimidated by what they see on the likes of social media to give exercise a go.
She said: “I had never done Hyrox before or even competed in anything like that, so it’s not just you can return to what you were doing – you can do stuff you’ve never done before.
“In Hyrox mixed doubles, females have to do it on the male weight so it’s all very heavy for me, but my husband is able to do more of the heavy lifting to help me. He supported me to go through with the Hyrox in Dublin, he supported me to breastfeed, I’ve breastfed all four of our kids and without him I wouldn’t have been able to do that, so I’m very lucky I’ve had that.
“My journey is not the same as a young person with no kids and that’s what I love about Hyrox – it’s everybody’s sport. You see people in their 70s doing it, they’re maybe just doing it slower.
“If you go on social media, you can see people with six-packs doing very fast times, and that can be intimidating. But the majority of people who are exercising are very normal people, to me it’s just everybody is wanting to be that 1% better every day.
“I want to be the best I can for our children, and for me training helps me feel mentally stronger, which helps me be a better mother. There are definitely barriers I have to work around, I would think if I’m leaving my daughter for an hour I need to make sure there’s milk, I have to pump on the way home from the gym using a portable pump to make sure I’m not down on the milk.
“But you don’t have to give up yourself just because you’ve had a baby. Yes life is very different, but you can still do these things.”
Breastival NI is an event celebrating and raising awareness of breastfeeding in Northern Ireland. It aims to normalise and support breastfeeding in all areas, including the sporting world.
Deborah Rice, board member of Breastival NI, said: “Breastival is calling for stronger support and recognition of breastfeeding mums who want to return to sport and training after birth.
“Too often, women are navigating this stage alone—unsure about feeding around exercise, worried about discomfort or how their body might react, or facing environments that simply aren’t breastfeeding-friendly.
“We’re urging gyms, clubs and sporting bodies to create inclusive spaces, provide evidence-based information, and recognise the unique needs of breastfeeding mothers so they can return to movement feeling confident, supported, and empowered.”
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