Alex Jones thought she'd lose her job while she was on maternity leave.
Alex Jones
The 'One Show' presenter returned to the topic magazine programme just three months after she gave birth to her son Teddy, now 15 months, last year, because she was worried that bosses would find her a permanent replacement if she didn't.
Speaking on 'Lorraine' on Thursday (05.04.18), she said: "I think women find it hard to be able to admit that they want to go back to work and that they are going to go back a bit earlier than everyone thinks is acceptable.
"It's ok to say I like my job and I want to continue doing it while I'm a mother. You've worked very hard to get where you are. Anyone who respects their job, they are scared about someone stepping in and doing it better. It is a worry.
"People expect you to say the baby is the most important, and of course it is, but side-by-side you still want to be the same person you were before. You'll never be exactly the same, of course. I think it's OK to say, 'Yes I'm going to go back to work'. "
The 41-year-old beauty now wishes she had waited at least five months before going back because it would have given her more time to bond with her baby.
She explained: "I went back a bit too soon.
"Before you have a baby you don't really understand how it's going to change you. I made promises that were a sort of unrealistic. Three and a half months was very early. But we made it work. In hindsight, five and a half months would have been better. But you don't know before going off on maternity."
When she went back to work, Alex hired a nanny to help her out with the baby but she recently admitted that she found herself getting jealous of her at times because she was witnessing Teddy reach little milestones - like crawling - without her.
She said: "Jess [the nanny] is a brilliant girl and we couldn't do without her. She's wonderful in so many ways and we love her, however there is still that feeling that I want to be doing the things that she's doing with Teddy.
"And it's really tough. I remember the one where he crawled for the first time and she'd sent a video of it to Charlie [Thomas, her husband] and I. And both of us were crestfallen, thinking - I wanted to see it!"
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