'I worried I wasn't good enough!': Katie Melua struggled to step back from showbiz to have a baby
Katie Melua found it "really hard" to take a break from performing so she could become a mother.
The 38-year-old singer has sold more than eight million records since she burst onto the music scene as a teenager in the early 2000s and explained that it was a "big thing" for her to take time out to have son Sandro with her mystery partner because she still "loves" her job all these years later.
Speaking on the 'Spinning Plates' podcast, she told Sophie Ellis-Bextor: "He's just gone three months. It's a bit of a trip. I feel like getting this far in terms of becoming a mum is such a big thing for me because I was just, and I still am, in love with my job, I love making records and everything that entails, like working with songs and going on the road.
"And it's an ego trip, let's face it. Being an artist in the music industry you get to make work that connects with lots of people.
"They clap at you at shows and all of that so I found it really hard to go 'Okay, I'm ready to do this' and step away from it and dedicate my life to another human being. So when it finally happened, it just felt like a fairy tale because I went 'Yeah, I can do this' I will do this, I will be a good mum.
"I was afraid of not being good enough as a parent and not being good enough as a musician because suddenly you have to give everything up for that job."
However, the 'Nine Million Bicycles songstress went on to add that she has a newfound "confidence" in herself as a woman since becoming a mother even though she had struggled for so long to get pregnant in the first place.
She added: "But what was bizarre was that when he was born, and even before it, I felt like my confidence went up massively as a woman. I think maybe because it had been so long, there were periods of time where I wondered if I would ever get pregnant.
"It wasn't the easiest for me to get pregnant so when it did happen I thought 'Yeah, I can do this' and knew I could be the strong female mother character I imagined myself to be."
