Moving away from home to another country can often seem very appealing. After having a baby there are lots of challenges particularly with a pandemic that prevents you from seeing your family before and after you’ve had your baby. Here five mothers share their story.

Anastasia’s story

I was born in a small provincial city in Russia (Vladimir). When I was 17 I left my family to proceed with my studies in a university in Moscow. I fell in love with the city and its opportunities. I met my husband who is from Belgium and in 2015, I relocated there to be with him. The rhythm of life here is very different from Moscow, so it was one of my first challenges. Also my husband travels a lot for work. Our twins were born on 13 April 2020 and my family has never seen them. Russian families are very close. There are a lot of emotions and attachment. Because of the pandemic, I have not seen my parents since pregnancy. My parents are also my best friends, so not seeing them is heartbreaking, especially now as I became mother myself. I am also their only child, which makes the situation even more difficult. I can’t wait to see and embrace them again and enjoy time together, this time +2!

Natasha’s story

I am half Belgian and moved here from England 6 years ago. My partner is Belgian and last April we had our first baby, Cece. The hardest thing about not being able to visit my family in England is this feeling of being trapped and not knowing when we will next reunite. Time flies by so quickly it’s quite overwhelming. I miss having hands-on support from my mother but we do FaceTime most days. Some of my family are also getting old and it makes it all that more nerve-racking. Cece has a great-great grandmother who is a hundred and I worry that they may never meet. I’m really excited about when we can travel again. I can’t wait to see my friends and family Hopefully by then we will be able to hug and have copious amounts of tea!

Iris’s story

I’m originally from The Netherlands and moved to the UK for work (I’m an airline pilot) 7 years ago. Before that I lived 1 year in Portugal, 2 years in Spain and 5 years in Greece. I am used to not living in the same country as my family, it’s just that normally we would never go this long without seeing each other! The hardest thing during lockdown was definitely not being able to see most of my family and see my sister who is also pregnant. Luckily we are all very close so it doesn’t affect our relationship at all. I still hope my parents will be able to make it to the birth of our son. Not having them around for that would be really quite difficult.

Lauren’s story

I’m originally from New Jersey in the States. The hardest thing for me has been not having my village around me. I come from such a close-knit family. I have four siblings, and loads of extended family and my entire life has been spent with all of my family around me. Only one of my siblings have met my son; no one else, not even my parents, have been able to meet Aidan because of the pandemic. So it’s been incredibly hard knowing that Aidan and my family have missed out on so much with each other. You can find out more about Lauren at: www.realityinreverie.com

Charyn’s story

Moving away from “home”, as a Mummy to two little ones has always been difficult on a practical and emotional level. I miss the simple little things like being able to nip to the shop for thirty mins childfree. My Mum spoils my two little ones and cooks and cleans and basically never stops, when we are together! Obviously Lockdown has been super hard as several planned trips have been cancelled, most recently flights we had booked to visit round the birth of my new nephew. It’s very disappointing but my Mum continues to help and support over the phone, plenty of video calls and care packages. We look forward to a big Irish get together, when we are allowed again! You can find out more about Charyn here.