Coping with the demands of a new baby can be taxing. Not only do you need to recover from the emotional and exhausting experience of childbirth but you now have the crying, broken nights sleep and 10th nappy change of the day to contend with.

So, it’s normal to feel a little rundown, right?

While that is most certainly the case for many women, Fox Sports presenter Lara Pitt’s exhaustion turned out to be something far more serious – postpartum thyroiditis.

So, in a bid to put an end to its common misdiagnosis, Pitt decided to share her story in an article posted on health and wellbeing site My Body and Soul.

After giving birth to her first child in January 2015, she began to experience increased heart rate, restless nights sleep and waking in pools of sweat. But like most parents, Pitt put it down to just being overtired.

A sentiment shared by her regular GP who said, “You’re now a Mum. Juggling a newborn and back at work part-time, of course you’d be tired.”

In her line of work, Pitt’s no stranger to receiving online criticism but after an episode on evening she says one comment on Twitter caught her eye.

Making childbirth safer for women - picture story Show all 11 1 /11 Making childbirth safer for women - picture story Making childbirth safer for women - picture story Image credit: Lindsay Mgbor/DFID Making childbirth safer for women - picture story Pregnant women in isolated rural communities are particularly vulnerable. Often their husbands are away trying to find work leaving them with little support. Many have to give birth at home without medical assistance. Image credit: Lindsay Mgbor/DFID Making childbirth safer for women - picture story The programme helps Binta teach ˜mothers helpers' who live in the rural communities, eight key signs of a difficult pregnancy and childbirth and actions to remember them. Fatsuma, 40, crosses her arms - the action for fever. Image credit: Lindsay Mgbor/DFID Making childbirth safer for women - picture story Fatsuma, who is a ‘mothers helper' counts either side of each knuckle to help women remember the number of symptoms, as well as learn different actions to match. Over 80% of women in Northern Nigeria are illiterate and this helps them remember the information without the use of leaflets. Image credit: Lindsay Mgbor/DFID Making childbirth safer for women - picture story After suffering two stillbirths while giving birth at home, Hauwau, 25, gave birth safely to a baby boy, Muktar, 5 months. Fatsuma had recognised a fever - one of the key danger signs - and got Hauwau to a hospital where she gave birth with the help of a midwife. DFID/Lindsay Mgbor Making childbirth safer for women - picture story But challenges remain. Hadiza, 15, lost her baby and nearly lost her life when after displaying clear signs of danger she was not taken to a hospital and instead gave birth at her parents' home. Image credit: Lindsay Mgbor/DFID Making childbirth safer for women - picture story Hadiza continued to bleed and her family gave her a traditional remedy. They prayed for her, writing inscriptions on tablets, washing them clean and giving her the water to drink. Image credit: Lindsay Mgbor/DFID Making childbirth safer for women - picture story It was only when Binta persuaded Hadiza's father to take her to hospital that she received the emergency medical care she needed to save her life. Lindsay Mgbor/DFID Making childbirth safer for women - picture story Hadiza's whole community is now involved with the programme through volunteer groups. Musabhu Yusif, the lead male volunteer says, "Now for us in the community, going to hospital is a pride. The moment we know a woman is in labour we will quickly go, get transport and rush her to hospital" Image credit: Lindsay Mgbor/DFID Making childbirth safer for women - picture story Supporting midwives like Binta reach rural communities is helping British aid benefit more people. Binta says, "It's not only the volunteers who are transmitting this information, it's the whole community. One person will learn and then ten or twenty people will learn from them." Image credit: Lindsay Mgbor/DFID Making childbirth safer for women - picture story British aid to Nigeria will reduce maternal deaths by one third by increasing the number of health workers in Nigeria, providing contraceptives and improving maternal care for millions of mothers, like Hauwa and Hadiza. Hauwa's, dream now is that one day her daughter will become a health worker, "I want her to become a nurse. I pray she will help others in the same way I have been helped". Image credit: Lindsay Mgbor/DFID

“Does Lara Pitt have an Adams Apple?” it read.

Eight months post-partum, the new mum was still feeling run down and days later, noticed a lump sticking out of her neck in a heart-like shape.

Some blood test and an ultrasound later, doctors finally diagnosed Pitt with post-partum thyroiditis.

A condition that occurs in 7-8 per cent of women approximately one to four months after delivery, it’s an uncommon disorder and is regularly mistakenly attributed to the stress of having a newborn.

“What surprised me most about all of this was how easily Mums out there, like me, must be getting misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all,” Pitt writes.

“My specialist often sees patients who’ve been told they have post-partum depression or anxiety.”