Hello!

Hello and welcome to my blog!  My name is Amal and I am a London based doctor (currently a Paediatric Registrar) and parent to 4 children. I became a step-mum to the eldest when she was 3 and went on to have 3 more children. I started this blog after reflecting on my own experiences and journey through motherhood and the questions I am often asked by other parents. Becoming a parent is an exciting time, but also a time often filled with highs and lows, challenges and worries.

I grew up in Brixton, London, an area that has undergone a lot of changes since the place I knew growing up in the 1990s. My experiences led me to take on a role in a mentoring scheme that aimed to encourage children from areas of deprivation to go into higher education and I decided in medical school that Paediatrics was going to be my area of practice.

My other passions are in creating art, healthy living, cooking, fitness, and travel. And coffee. Everyone that knows me will know that my love for coffee deserves it’s own special mention.

In the 14 years that I have been a doctor, for various reasons, some of my other interests took a backseat. I spent more recent years like many of my colleagues juggling the balancing act of being the best mum I could be and the best doctor I could be, often questioning whether I was getting it right.

On a final thought, although I always knew that I wanted children, I don’t think I quite knew how much becoming a mum would change me, and in fact everything else I thought I knew and was so sure about myself.

For a considerable amount of time I was simply known as That Mum with The Sling.