Milton Keynes woman writes poignant book about becoming a single mum during lockdown

A single mum from Milton Keynes has written a poignant book called simply ‘To my Lockdown Baby’.

Amy Goff describes becoming a new parent during the global Covid pandemic in 2020, a situation many women can relate to.

The book starts: “The world closed its doors. It was just you and me.”

Her manuscript, delightfully illustrated by Lucy Tanner-Duckham, was snapped up by Olympia Publishers and is now on sale for £6.99 or free on Kindle Unlimited through Amazon UK.

Dedicated to her son Frankie, who is now a toddler, the book takes readers on a journey of the emotions and feelings experienced as a new parent. It explores the initial feelings of excitement and joy recalling all the places a parent would have taken a new baby. It then describe the darkness of realising it was not possible to experience those things and they would experience becoming a new parent alone.

Amy said: “My world came crashing down when I split from my husband and found myself alone, grieving and parenting a baby...

"I wrote the book dedicated to my son as a single mum bringing him up in lockdown. My son had severe reflux, which made this period an even more difficult time for us.

"I wanted to write the book as a positive memory of a difficult time. Whilst it was harder the lesson learnt was that we had each other and with that we can get through anything.”

She added: "This was a very lonely period for any parent to experience bringing up a child, especially a new parent. During 2020 there were 613,936 live births; which highlights the vast number that would have experienced this. However at the time it felt like you were all alone.

"My hope is that from people reading my book they will know that although they were alone we were all in it together.”

The book uses imagery of a kangaroo, which symbolises the fact that Amy carried her son constantly in a sling as he always wanted to be close to her.

Since the book was published, Amy has gone onto to train as a life coach, specialising in narcissistic abuse and trauma. She uses her experiences to empower single mums to heal from their past relationships, learn to love themselves again and live the life they deserve.

You can find out more through her instagram @amy.goff or her website here.

The website states: “I am on a mission to help women full in love with themselves, regain their power and live the life they deserve.

"I know the pain you are feeling, wanting to move forward but not knowing how. Feeling lost and overwhelmed and not knowing where to go from here. I am here to hold your hand and guide you through the process of finding you again.

It adds: “This is not the end, this is your beginning. This is your chance to give yourself the happily ever after you deserve. What happened to you, does not have to define you.”