When Suki Waterhouse shared a post-partum selfie – rocking a pair of disposable knickers – with her four million followers, her honesty about the roller coaster of new motherhood struck a chord. ‘The fourth trimester has been... humbling!’ she wrote when she posted the picture in April following the birth of her daughter with her partner of six years, actor Robert Pattinson. ‘The postpartum period has been filled with exhilarating joy, so much laughter, tears, soo many hormones!’
Women flooded her comments, thanking the model-singer-actor for getting real and sharing their own stories of navigating the newborn blur. ‘I don’t know if you can be prepared for all the emotional and physical changes that come after birth,’ Suki tells Grazia now. ‘A few months in I’m starting to feel a lot more like myself, but the hormones are still there and can catch me at unexpected moments. I think surrendering to the changes has been the best thing I could have done.’
As well as the support of family – ‘both grandparents have come over [to Los Angeles] from London to spend time with our baby’ – she also has the camaraderie of a circle of mums in the same boat. ‘I’ve been texting other new mums a lot. That community has been really important. You need to find a few other women who are on a similar wavelength, who you feel comfortable asking the real questions, without judgement.’ So how is she coping with sleepless nights? ‘It’s like being at a non-stop rave! But the gummy smiles are making up for it all.’
A few weeks after welcoming her baby, Suki performed at Coachella, prompting the same old tired commentary on how soon a new mother ‘should’ return to work. Suki is taking it all in her stride, announcing her 24-date Sparklemuffin Tour, which kicks off in September. ‘I’ve been doing some light creative work and am planning an album for later this year,’ she says. ‘It will definitely be all kinds of interesting having her with me along the way.’
There will never be a perfect day but there will be lots of perfect moments.
Beyond sharing her favourite baby products and creating a new parent edit with Tommee Tippee (‘the ultra-light soother has been a life-saver on many occasions’), she’s not one for dispensing parenting tips. ‘You get so much advice and opinions when you become a parent,’ she says. ‘But so much of how your routine or parenting style develops is to do with what kind of baby you have.’
There is one gem of wisdom that has resonated, though. ‘Someone said to me, “There will never be a perfect day but there will be lots of perfect moments.” I love that.’
Shop The Suki Edit at tommeetippee.com/ suki-edit