Glamorous Marchwood mum, Tammy Baker, is no stranger to physical endurance: she used to be ‘Fox’ on TV’s Gladiators. “I thought that all my years of training would get me through labour with few problems, but I was proved wrong there!”

Tammy appeared on UK Gladiators for three years and then went to work on the South African version of the show. “I absolutely loved my time as a Gladiator – it was a dream come true. I had to keep incredibly fit and strong for the shows, though, and it was very physically demanding.” And, as if being a Gladiator wasn’t enough excitement, Tammy also worked as a personal trainer to celebrities including Robbie Williams.

After ten years of gladiatorial battling, Tammy returned to the UK and picked up her previous career, as a lecturer in the beauty industry. She liked to work out, though, and she was in the gym when she met her partner, Rob. “We hit it off straight away – everything clicked into place and it all just felt right.” So much so, that within five months Tammy and Rob were living together and two months later they decided to try for a baby. “Although I’m 38, I had never felt ready to start a family before, and I’d resigned myself to the fact that I would probably never get to experience pregnancy – it’s amazing how fast your life can change when it all slots into place.”

A couple of months later Tammy was pregnant. “The first four months were quite stressful. We were so excited about our first scan, and getting to see the baby for the first time, but due to my age, and the results of the scan, I fell into the higher risk category for Down Syndrome, which left us really deflated. We decided to have an amnio, and we were relieved when the results came back clear – but it meant that we didn’t really relax into the pregnancy until the fifth month.”

Used to keeping herself in fantastic shape, Tammy was concerned about losing her figure. “It was difficult watching my body change in the early days. My waist thickened up in the first eight weeks, so a lot of my clothes became too small pretty early on. I was determined to not buy any maternity clothing, and I bought things in the next size up, but that all changed in month five when it became too uncomfortable!”

“I did constantly worry about how much weight I was putting on and I was surprised to have gained 3½ stone, despite still being fairly active throughout. I was horrified each time I stepped on the scales and all I could think of was how I was going to lose all the weight after the birth. Seeing my body shape deteriorate was quite hard to get used to, but as my bump grew I started to see that being pregnant is actually a beautiful thing, and I began to relax.”

Tammy had planned to have a water birth at the Ashurst Birth Centre, but, because there was meconium in her waters, she was moved to the Princess Anne Hospital. “At hospital the contractions became unbearable, and I opted for an epidural. The medical staff couldn’t work out which way Ethan’s head was facing, and they decided to take me in to theatre in case they needed to switch to a caesarean. I was then given a spinal injection to numb me from the waist down – so I had gone from wanting to have no pain killers, to having the two strongest ones. Both Rob and I felt very anxious about the change in plans, but I was so exhausted I was willing to go through anything to have our baby delivered safely.”

“Thankfully, they were able to pull Ethan out with forceps so I was fortunate enough to escape the caesarean. It was the most painful, and the most beautiful, experience ever! I’m still surprised that I struggled so much with the labour, given that my body has been used to a lot of gruelling pain over the years, but it just goes to show that we all have different experiences with it.”


Rob was by Tammy’s side throughout, and watched Ethan being delivered. “I could tell by the tone of Rob’s voice that he was overwhelmed. It was amazing watching him hold our baby boy for the first time: such an emotional experience.  We were both crying with happiness because he was safe and sound.”

Tammy and Ethan spent one night at the Princess Anne and then two nights at Ashurst, before returning home. “It took a few days to sink in that we were now a new family and that the nine months of anticipation were finally over. I felt quite anxious about the most simple things, like taking Ethan food shopping, or going out in the pram or car, but getting out and about made me feel better about myself and helped me to establish routines more easily – even if it did take three hours to get out of the door!”

Tammy was now keen to get her body back in shape. “I decided to breast feed because I realised it was best for Ethan, and also that it would give my body a better chance of returning to normal more quickly. I lost two stones within the first two weeks of giving birth, which was mainly water retention, so now I just have to work hard to get the rest off.”

“I started doing some gentle cardio sessions three weeks after giving birth, and five weeks post pregnancy I was back in the gym three times a week, doing low impact cardio and light resistance training, along with following a sensible eating plan – I’m determined to get my shape back but it’s not as easy as it used to be!”

Nevertheless, baby Ethan will soon be able to watch his super-fit mum in her gladiatorial prime. “I have lots of footage of myself, which, to my dismay, quite often gets shown to guests – because Rob knows it will embarrass me. So if I don’t show Ethan footage of his mummy in action you can rest assured that Rob or someone else in my family will do the honours for me!”

Despite having such an exciting career behind her, Tammy is very happy with the way things are right now. “I wouldn’t change anything for the world: I love every minute of it, sleep deprived or not! I’m happy and content with my life and my career – Rob and little Ethan make it all complete.”