NARC party leader Martha Karua, a mother of two, shared her journey of motherhood in a candid conversation with musician Kambua Manundu on the YouTube channel Hey Mama.
Recalling her experience, she began, “That was almost forty years ago,” revealing its deep impact on her life.
At 27, she welcomed her first baby and felt prepared for the role. “I wasn’t all that young. I got my first baby when I was 27. I was ready for it. I learned during my pregnancy it was a very comfortable pregnancy; I learned how to knit.”
At the time, she was a Magistrate at Makadara, and during lunch breaks, she would knit to pass the time. “It was exciting, and I was looking forward to it.”
Her demanding job led her to make a tough decision: she quit her Magistrate job after maternity leave. “After maternity leave, I did not return to Makadara, I returned to the law courts at the time.” This job was near her home, allowing her to breastfeed during lunch breaks.
“It’s actually magical to watch a child grow. The first few months are the most magical because daily you see changes,” Martha Karua shared.
At 67, she reflected on her experience with motherhood, saying, “Motherhood is a great joy, every moment of it, even today, and you go through challenges… as you raise children, through teenage, there will be those fights, those run-ins, but it’s still gratifying. I don’t think that you would wish for anything different.”
She added, “Parenthood and motherhood is a full-time job you don’t retire from it, throughout your life. It will become less intense, but in one’s head it remains, and it is a full-time job. When I see my mother and grandmothers, how do they react? Grandmothers older than me, you will see how they are reacting and connecting with grandchildren. And now I am blessed because grandchildren are motherhood a second time.”
Martha Karua, who often welcomes young children into her home, explained how balancing her tough law career and parenting worked. “When my children were younger, I used to tag them along when I’m going to my harambees and meetings over the weekend,” she said. This allowed her to spend time with her children while managing her professional life.
She reflected on parenting, “Nobody can boast of having achieved work-life balance, you just try and you try the best way you know how.”
When asked what lessons she learned from her children, she laughed and replied, “I think one thing is that you can’t win most of those battles with them, and that’s how it plays out. You learn that with them it’s more persuasion, more talk than giving the rule book.” Another lesson was patience: “So they also teach you patience because you will be tough, they will be tougher than you. You won’t tell them that they have won, but you will try to manage the situation. Being a parent is a lesson in patience.”
Finally, she concluded, “You appreciate your parents even more. Why patience and sacrifice, because when you are aligning your priorities, they come first, their needs come first, everything else. When you try and plan your time, you must somewhere in the corner, note that this is happening, and you learn to juggle.”
For Martha, the key to balancing motherhood and career was adjustment: “Also trial and error. There is no manual.”
