First, there are the very obvious changes like a significant reduction – if not total eradication – of your free time (I often wonder what on earth it was that I used to do pre-children which seemed so utterly exhausting), sleep-deprivation, leaving or taking a step back from a successful career, accepting that your house will never be tidy again and becoming an expert on different types of construction vehicles, dinosaurs and snakes.

Then there are the inevitable physical changes which result from being pregnant for nine months; the inability to fit into any of your old, non-maternity clothes, the worrying amount of hair loss once the wonderful pregnancy hormones go back to their secret hiding place, the stretch marks and all the other joys anyone who has had children will be all too familiar with (trampolines anyone?!).

Finally, there are the less obvious changes which slowly creep up on you and take you by surprise; your total inability to make a decision, your propensity for shouting and most surprising of all, the sudden realisation that you now cry at the slightest thing.

Disney movies leave you in floods of tears, nature programmes about baby penguins being left alone in an icy wilderness are completely unbearable and you are unable to watch any news report or read any press articles relating to anything bad or tragic happening to children.

But perhaps the single, biggest change which happens to the vast majority of mothers, is that they are so busy looking after their brood, they completely forget to look after themselves.

Most mothers will naturally spend their days and nights thinking about and worrying over their children's well-being; whether they have had their requisite five-a-day, whether their teeth have been brushed properly, whether clothes fit correctly.

They will notice when their child seems a little more tired than usual, that their nails need cutting, that their patches of dry skin need moisturising and yet, all the while, not paying any attention to their own wellbeing.

Many, many mothers I know personally or am connected to through social networking all seem to suffer from the same issue of personal neglect.

Never mind about neglecting our physical wellbeing as we scoff a jaffa cake for lunch while we put the shopping away so that we have some workspace to make the children's organic healthy dinner, we also neglect our mental wellbeing.

Now, I'm not suggesting that all mothers are one step away from a stint in rehab, but I do think that many mums – myself included – could do with a bit of mental TLC. So, I was intrigued when I came across 'Mindapples' recently - a website which simply asks you to consider, if eating five portions of fruit and veg a day keeps you physically healthy, what's the equivalent for your mind?

I delved a little deeper and came across a test on the website which asks you to lists the five things you do every day – or regularly – to take care of yourself and keep your mind healthy. I sat staring blankly at the screen and after a few moments, logged out! I could not easily think of one thing I do to take care of myself. This is terrible, thought I, so in an effort to rectify this shocking situation, I am working on my list.

So far, I have 1. Read (relaxing and distracting from the everyday issues which clutter my mind),

2. Have an uninterrupted bubble bath (pure bliss)

3. Go for a walk alone whilst listening to my iPod (relaxation, exercise and music at the same time – not bad eh?).

I am currently lucky to do one of those things per month, let alone all of them every day! But hey, there's no time like the present to start making changes, so for the following week I will be taking care of – amongst other people – myself.

If you want to join me check out http://mindapples.org or just come up with your list of five things and see how many of them you manage to do in a day.

It has to be worth a go. After all, as the old saying goes, "An apple a day….!"