Michelle Ackerley's Journey from Infertility Fears to Motherhood
Morning Live presenter Michelle Ackerley has described becoming a mother as "a miracle" after being told her chances of having a child were "very, very slim" due to fertility issues. The 41-year-old television personality, who has suffered from painful endometriosis for many years, received the devastating news that her fertility levels were so low that conception seemed unlikely.
A Surprise Pregnancy Against All Odds
Remarkably, just a few weeks after receiving this prognosis early last year, Ackerley discovered she was expecting a baby. "The whole journey of pregnancy, although tough for a lot of physical reasons, has felt like a miracle," she reveals. The presenter, who married sports coach Ben Ryan in 2024, gave birth to daughter Nala via C-section in October last year and is now the proud mother of a three-month-old.
Ackerley describes motherhood as "overwhelming" in both challenging and joyful ways. "That doesn't take away from the very real moments you have every day, every night, sometimes every hour, of overwhelm, of isolation sometimes, and then moments of pure joy and wonder and just being overcome with emotion," she explains candidly. "I look at her sometimes and I just can't believe she's my little girl."
A Challenging Pregnancy Journey
The pregnancy itself presented significant physical challenges for Ackerley:
- Extreme morning sickness during the first trimester
- Migraines throughout the second trimester
- Hospitalisation with labyrinthitis during the final trimester
Following her Caesarean birth, medical professionals advised her to "take it slow and steady" and avoid doing too much too soon. However, Ackerley admits she initially struggled with this advice. "At the very start, especially with all the hormones and everything, I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to almost get back to how I was before, which you realise pretty quickly cannot be the case, and you shouldn't put that pressure on yourself," she reflects.
Rediscovering Movement After Pregnancy
Ackerley has since embraced a gentle approach to postnatal fitness through Sport England's This Girl Can initiative and their We Like The Way You Move campaign, which encourages women to get active in ways that work for them. "Post-pregnancy has been trying to relearn a lot of things, and understand my whole new identity and my body in a different way, which has a real impact on exercise," she explains.
"So as someone that likes keeping fit, I feel like I've had to start from the ground up again, and I'm still very much in that process from a physical and a mental point of view. For me it's very much about not overwhelming myself, and taking it bit by bit."
Her recovery journey began with four to six weeks of rest, followed by gentle walking rather than returning to her pre-pregnancy running routine. "That's something I've continued to do, but I've started to enjoy it more," she says. "The first part of the process was very much about recovery, and now it's about being a bit more restorative, and reinforcement, plus enjoying the essence of what exercise is about from a physical and a mental point of view, especially when it comes to body confidence."
Navigating Body Confidence Challenges
Ackerley's experience resonates with This Girl Can research findings that 39% of new mums and pregnant women lose confidence in their bodies, while 31% feel they have 'a different body to work with' when becoming active again. "That totally resonates with me," Ackerley admits. "Sometimes you're getting yourself dressed in the morning and you're looking at yourself thinking 'I don't know this new person. I don't know this new body'. So incorporating exercise you do feel like you're starting from scratch, and knowing what's safe and being kind to yourself is a really big part of that."
Creative Approaches to Daily Movement
The presenter has developed innovative ways to incorporate movement into her busy schedule as a new mother:
- Using her electric toothbrush's two-minute timer to perform simple exercises like leg lifts or arm movements
- Taking Nala for walks in her buggy
- Carrying her baby around the house while bouncing gently
- Performing exercises in front of Nala when she's in her bouncer
"It feels like it's a nice way we can be interactive with each other," she says of exercising with her daughter. "I feel like I'm engaging my body as well as engaging with my baby, which feels special."
Ackerley emphasises that getting active doesn't mean heading to the gym for intense workouts. Three months after giving birth, she's considering gentle aerobic exercise and sometimes lifting cans of beans as sufficient for her current needs. "An important part is reframing what exercise is to you and not overwhelming yourself," she stresses.
Redefining Exercise for New Mothers
"When time is of the essence, think how can I carve movement into my day, and make it an enjoyable thing. If there's ever a time when you need to nurture your body in a loving way, it's now," Ackerley advises fellow new mothers. "For me, movement and exercise, and just trying to have that consistency, which I'm able to do a bit more now, is without doubt something that's really helped every time I do it. I feel like – and it's something I've never done to myself before – I just want to pat myself on the back and be like 'Well done today'."
Balancing Motherhood and Career
While currently on maternity leave, Ackerley has completed a few Keeping in Touch Days at Morning Live recently. "It reminded me of that other side of Michelle, the side that's worked hard to be doing the job I'm doing and that I really enjoy," she reflects on returning briefly to her broadcasting role.
When asked about potential plans for expanding her family, Ackerley responds thoughtfully: "I'm still working that out myself. I feel so blessed and grateful to have Nala and I'm just getting used to this new normal, so I haven't really even processed what having a second child could look like. Having thought I couldn't have one, there's a part of me that now thinks why not two? But to be honest, I'm really trying to spend the time at the minute just centring myself, and taking each day step-by-step. I'll see what happens – who knows?"
Ackerley continues to support Sport England's This Girl Can initiative, which encourages pregnant women and new mothers to celebrate different ways of getting active and highlights that starting with just ten minutes of activity can provide immediate benefits for energy, mood, confidence, and sleep.
