Kate Ferdinand has admitted she’s been battling with insecurities and still ‘feels guilty’ for slowing down during the early months of her pregnancy.
The former TOWIE star, 29, who is expecting a baby boy with husband Rio, candidly discussed battling anxiety and ‘really struggling’ during her first trimester on the Women’s Health Going for Goal podcast.
Kate is set to welcome her first child with husband Rio, 41, in the coming months, and is already stepmum to his three children Lorenz, 14, Tate, 11, and Tia, nine.
Hard: Kate Ferdinand, 29, has admitted she’s been battling with insecurities and still ‘feels guilty’ for slowing down during the early months of her pregnancy
Kate candidly revealed she’s battled with anxiety and mental health struggles during her pregnancy, saying: ‘I struggle with my mental health… being active helps me day-to-day with my anxiety…
‘So when I can’t do things, I really struggle with it…I want to do everything. Rio says to me ‘Kate, just sit down. You just need to sit down and relax’. But I don’t know why, I just feel guilty when I do.
‘[Anxiety is] something I’ve suffered with from when I can remember. It can start over the simplest thing, and it’s just my mind playing tricks on me and can get out of control. But I do find that when I exercise or go for a walk, I seem to feel better for the day.’
Candid: The star who is expecting a baby boy with husband Rio, discussed battling anxiety and ‘really struggling’ during her first trimester on the Women’s Health Going for Goal podcast
The star then admitted her mental health has taken a toll during her pregnancy as she’s struggled to adjust to her changing body, especially during her first trimester.
She said: ‘I am quite emotional. I feel a little bit insecure.
‘I feel like not like me, and I struggled with that for a little while… feeling insecure with just how I look and my changing body, and I know it sounds very superficial… but struggling how to dress for this… Everything that you know has changed.’
Kate then added: ‘The first three months I really, really struggled. I’m normally really active and I run around like a lunatic, just doing everything constantly.
‘And I just couldn’t… I couldn’t get my head around being tired and not having the energy to go to the gym… But as I’m in the second trimester, I feel a bit more normal… I feel a bit more like myself.’
Transition: The star then admitted her mental health has taken a toll during her pregnancy as she’s struggled to adjust to her changing body, especially during her first trimester
Asked how she’s been managing and improving her mental health during her pregnancy, Kate explained she’s tried to take regular breaks from social media.
She explained: ‘I’m still not great at it, but I do try to remember that social media and other people’s opinions is not me. I do try to have a break.
‘I try to stay off it, and for quite a bit of my pregnancy I wasn’t on social media. I just found I couldn’t keep up with the kids, the holiday and everything. When I’m not on it I do feel happier.
‘If you’re not in the right mindset it can just be a negative place… People write some crazy stuff on there, and you can get caught up in it all.’
Earlier this month Kate and Rio revealed they’re expecting a baby boy together, and the star admitted it came as a shock to stepdaughter Tia.
Emotional: She said: ‘I couldn’t get my head around being tired and not having the energy to go to the gym. But as I’m in the second trimester, I feel a bit more normal’
She told the podcast: ‘Me and Tia are very out-numbered. It’s going to be the fourth boy and she can’t believe it.
‘She looked like she was going to cry. She said: ”I really wanted a girl”…, but yeah another boy, more football boots, I suppose, I’m going to be at football matches for the rest of my life I think at this rate.’
Having spent a majority of her pregnancy in lockdown, Kate also spoke about the prospect of having to give birth with new restrictions.
Famiy: Kate is set to welcome her first child with husband Rio in the coming months, and is already stepmum to his three children Lorenz, 14, Tate, 11, and Tia, nine
She explained: ‘Obviously we’d really like to take the kids (to the hospital appointments) so it’s been a different experience to what you would imagine it to be.
‘But we’re just lucky we’ve got a healthy baby, so I’m trying not to focus on all that, and just record all the scans for the kids.
‘We’ll all watch it when we get home and put it on the TV…But I have seen a lot of things on social media about husbands not being allowed in for the birth, which seems crazy when people are down the pub.’
Kate and Rio, who married last year, announced their pregnancy on June 18, when Kate took to Instagram to share a heart-warming video of the moment they told their kids.
Listen to the full Kate Ferdinand interview on the Women’s Health Going for Goal podcast from 24th September.
Sweet: The happy couple embarked on a relationship in 2017, married last year and announced they were expecting their first child together on June 18