New mum who spent FIVE HOURS a day cleaning was convinced own children were 'dirty' in battle with severe OCD
19.02.2023 - 15:23
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A new mum who spent five hours each day cleaning has told of how her severe OCD plagued her with thoughts that her own children were 'dirty'.
Angel Stagg, 25, said her cleaning routine took over her whole mornings - but then felt guilty for not spending enough time with her kids, describing the experience as 'awful'.
The mum-of-two began to suffer with intense low moods after the birth of her daughter Evelyn, now two, in February 2020. But the thoughts became more intense after the birth of her second child, Jackson, one, in May 2021.
READ MORE: He was a teenage boxer who grew up in poverty - then an attack changed his life
She said a voice in her head told her 'everything was dirty', convincing her even her bathroom was too filthy to use - meaning she would go days without washing.
Angel, a social media content creator, from Hassocks, West Sussex - who is pregnant with her third child - said the thoughts started after she 'struggled to bond' with Evelyn initially.
"As a first-time mum I didn't know what to expect, but I couldn't bond with her," she said. "I would look at her and everything to do with her was a chore - like changing her nappy and feeding her. I would look at my daughter and just think, 'I don't want to be a mum.'
"I despised the life I had at that point. This was just before the first lockdown, so I was on my own until after my son was born. I always had this feeling that I was dirty, that the kids were dirty, no matter how much I cleaned around the house.
"I would get incredibly anxious, and couldn't relax."
After falling pregnant with her son, Jackson, in September 2020, Angel began to worry about what would happen post-birth after her first experience.
"Jackson was born on May 31, 2021, and that's