The Project's Carrie Bickmore admits she was nervous about going back to work after maternity leave

'I felt funny in the tummy': The Project star Carrie Bickmore admits she was nervous about going back to work after maternity leave... as she likens it to 'losing your identity'

By Katie Storey For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 15:14 BST, 3 August 2019 | Updated: 15:14 BST, 3 August 2019

Carrie Bickmore has confessed she was overcome with nerves at the thought of returning to work, following her maternity leave after having her third child.

Writing for Stellar magazine, The Project presenter, 38, claimed that maternity leave for most women can 'feel like they are losing identity'.

Sharing her own experience, Carrie described maternity as a 'strange period' and admitted she was worried her absence would lead to her being 'replaced' at work.

'I felt funny in the tummy': Carrie Bickmore has confessed she was overcome with nerves at the thought of returning to work, following her maternity leave after having her third child

Carrie is mum to three children; son Oliver, 11 and daughters Evie, four and Adelaide, who she welcomed in December last year.

Recalling the moment she went back to work after taking maternity leave following Adelaide's birth, Carrie said: 'I genuinely felt funny in the tummy.'

The Gold Logie winner joked how she had been 'looking forward' to her maternity leave and a 'little holiday' from work, but admits the time away began to play on her mind.

'It's a strange period': Writing for Stellar magazine, The Project presenter, 38, claimed that maternity leave for most women can 'feel like they are losing identity'

'For many women it can feel like they are losing their identity,' she explained.

Carrie said: 'Your brain starts messing with you. [You think], "What if I have been pushed to the side? I wish I could take more time... maybe I should stop working altogether."'

Carrie previously revealed that she took more time off work, following daughter Adelaide's arrival, than she had initially planned to.

'Your brain starts messing with you': Carrie described maternity as a 'strange period' and admitted she was worried her absence would lead to her being 'replaced' at work - pictured above with partner Chris Walker and daughter Adelaide

In an interview with OK! magazine, Carrie, who spent eight months on maternity leave with Adelaide, said her third child has been her 'most difficult' yet.

'Adelaide has definitely been the hardest one yet, as adorable as she is,' she confessed. 'She's been a lot more challenging that I could ever have imagined!'

'I didn't set out to stick to a set time [for maternity leave], as I didn't quite know how we'd go when Adelaide arrived,' Carrie said.

Carrie, who was hailed as 'the soul of The Project during its 10th birthday last month, has been a regular host on the current affairs talk-show since it first aired in 2009.

'She's been a lot more challenging': Carrie, who spent eight months on maternity leave with Adelaide, said her third child has been her 'most difficult' yet