Hollyoaks’ Ali Bastian: ‘Isolation has made me incredibly protective of my baby girl’

‘I'll find it hard to hand my baby over to people in the future'

These difficult times have been especially hard for me as I became a first-time mum just a week before lockdown was announced! I had my baby girl, Isla, via C-section ten weeks ago and my first few months as a mum have been a rollercoaster.

We’ve been in isolation since we had her - the nurses and midwives in the hospital seemed to have a strong sense about what was to come, and advised us to go home and keep her from seeing friends and relatives for a while.

That’s been the hardest part. I’d have loved for Isla to have been held by her grandparents or aunties and uncles during her first few months of life, and to have family around me for support.

Instead, there’s been introductions over Zoom and we have video calls daily now. In a way, it’s lovely because it’s been more intimate than it may have been to have people over for visits.

It’s also a huge positive that my [actor and photographer] husband David [O'Mahony] and I have been able to spend so much time with Isla and both be full-time parents, as David would have only have had two weeks paternity leave normally. I feel like we’ve really bonded as a little team.

The negatives of course are that it’s an incredibly anxious and stressful time for all new mums. I do worry about what future life will look like, and I do feel incredibly protective. I think I’ll find it hard to hand her over to other people in the future.

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I also think about the times I’ve missed out on during lockdown - I’d have loved to have taken Isla for a swim, or joined an ante-natal group. But I have found social media to be great, and chatting to other mums with newborns really helpful. I’d advise anyone struggling to reach out and ask for help if you need.

‘I can’t see how soaps can resume filming’

Last week there was a mixed response to PM Boris Johnson’s address to the nation and easing of lockdown rules. It's easy to be an 'armchair politician', but I don’t feel confident in the way things are being handled by the government.

I think we took too long to go into lockdown and restrictions are being eased without any real changes in the coronavirus situation. We’re still not any further with testing of the public, antibody tests or a vaccine, so how can we start to resume normal life?

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I also read last week that some soaps are going back to filming, but with social distancing. Having worked on Hollyoaks, I just can’t see how they can do that. I appreciate that they want to get up and running, but from my experience, I can’t imagine how it’ll work. I do know that the production companies will try their best to look after their cast and crew, though.

If I Ruled The World...

I’d make chocolate healthy - it’d be a great comfort to have unlimited sweet treats during lockdown

And I’d make sure doctors, nurses and teachers were paid more - so their salaries reflected their actual value

Ali is a proud ambassador for her favourite pregnancy brand Secret Saviours.

Find out more at secretsaviours.com