 The
babyworld/Sparks interview: Annabel Croft
 Former professional tennis player Annabel Croft
took a break from her sports presenting job to talk to babyworld about
life as a mum of three and how she balances work with family...
Involvement with SPARKS
As well as her work commitments, Annabel Croft has become
a patron of SPARKS, one of babyworld’s favourite charities, which is
backed by sporting personalities in order to raise money for research
into a range of childhood illnesses. (learn more about SPARKS
– Sport Aiding medical Research for Kids)
Annabel
says: “I've been
involved in SPARKS events for a long time now – primarily supporting
their golf days and fundraising balls. As a tennis player and mother of
three, I was naturally attracted to the work of a sports-led charity
raising money for children's medical research."
Annabel’s pregnancies
Annabel has three children - Amber, aged six; Charlie,
aged four; and two-year-old Lily. Two of Annabel's pregnancies were very smooth, but
four-year-old Charlie proved a little harder on his mum than his
sisters!
“The first and third pregnancies were very smooth
and I loved being pregnant. I found it a really special time and just
felt incredibly happy all the time. That is, apart from the morning
sickness, which was dreadful with Amber for the first three or four
months – I would feel sea sick all day.
“But once the sickness was over I felt very well and kept
playing tennis for quite a while. I found it extraordinary the way my
sense of taste
and smell changed. I read many many books –
I couldn’t stop reading books
about what stage I was at, what was happening now, what size the baby
was… I loved being pregnant!
“My second pregnancy was fine up until the last
stage then I had very bad back pains which I just had
to struggle through. I had all three babies naturally, although Amber
was a ventouse baby. The whole labour with Charlie lasted one hour 40
minutes, and
fortunately Lily was slower –
I was worried she’d come in about 10
minutes!
“Looking
back on my three pregnancies, I really appreciate how fortunate I was. I
know some mothers go through more distressing births and it is for this
reason that I wanted to support SPARKS, which endeavours to ensure a
healthier future for children."
Working and having children
Although she can afford a nanny to help her juggle all the commitments of work and home, becoming a mum affected
Annabel in the same ways as all new mums.
She says: “You feel really alive when you’ve
had a baby and nothing else matters apart from them. When your baby is
born you look at nothing else, you don’t care about your surroundings,
you keep staring at your baby. I remember feeling so proud and not
caring about anything else.
“Your
time becomes very tight... It's given me more confidence to cope with
things. Children put a new whole perspective on your life, throwing a
new set of priorities in your way. Work may come and go now but I
wouldn't want to miss picking my children up from school.
“This is the first year I’ve started to turn
down work. My work has now become more focused into broadcasting - presenting the Tennis Masters series on
OnDigital - but I’ve come out of
other commitments now unless it’s something I really want to do.”
Annabel is planning more presenting on OnSport1 and
British Eurosport, and is currently in Australia to cover the Australian
Open.
Where to next?
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