I count myself incredibly lucky to have had easy access to some wonderful local green spaces while in the thick of my first year of motherhood. Whenever we needed to get out of the house and – ideally – not spend any money doing so, we headed into nature.

Being surrounded by bird song instantly seemed to calm us both. The fog of my sleep-deprived brain would lift, even if only slightly, as we took in those sights and sounds together. Those slow strolls through my local woods at Willsbridge Mill, with my little one peeping out over the top of her carrier, reignited my sense of wonder for the natural world and brought a sense of peace nothing else could quite match.

A 2023 pilot study led by University of Bristol researchers found that mothers reported significant benefits to their postnatal wellbeing when spending time in nature. The study notes:

“Across all of the focus groups, mothers conceptualised natural environments as highly conducive to their wellbeing in the postnatal period, allowing sometimes profound shifts in perspective: altering their views of themselves, their thoughts and feelings, their priorities, and even their take on life.

“Mothers described how spending time in nature with their baby encouraged happiness and joy, interest and fascination, relaxation, calm, peace, feeling ‘grounded’, feeling soothed, as well as reducing stress and lifting depressed moods. These positive psychological states then allowed a feeling of restoration, as if spending time in nature is ‘like pressing reset’.”

This doesn’t come as a great surprise – the benefits of spending time in nature for our mental health have been well documented. But it’s that line about the profound shifts in perspective which really resonates with my own experience.

No matter what else was going on – teething, winter bugs, the aforementioned lack of sleep, a nappy explosion in the middle of a mum and baby group which left us both with that distinctive mustard-hue stained clothing – if I got us somewhere green, those troubles would seemingly melt away (though admittedly the stains would need a little more work to get rid of).

Slowing down and noticing the changes of the seasons also helped to bring home the passing of time and how we’d both developed. In her first autumn, my girl was a frustrated four-month-old – waking up to the world but not being able to do much about it, and finding everything outside of just me and her all a bit overwhelming. Come the spring, those same trees we’d passed every Monday on our way to the play café now provided entertainment and delight, by way of delicate blossom petals to explore between grasping fingers. Being able to see how she and her reactions to nature changed brought home how far I’d come as well – no longer obsessed with perfect nap lengths or trying to predict when she might want to feed next, we were both easing into this new ‘normal’.

Even now, almost at the end of my second year of motherhood, seeing my daughter gently stroke the moss on a tree or stop in her tracks to admire the frogs in a local wildlife pond, help me tap into that childlike curiosity once more (and fill me with pride at the sight of her becoming a little explorer!). It’s those moments of connection – with your child, the natural world and with your own wellbeing – that make time in nature the mother of all medicines.

Find a nature reserve near you