Hello, I'm Aoife Smith.
Pre- and Postnatal Coaching Specialist & Personal Trainer
I am a single mother to one very energetic and strong-willed little boy. I have always had an interest in fitness and the gym, and was an avid gym-goer throughout my college years. From 2006, I completed a degree in Mathematical Sciences, qualified as a secondary school Maths Teacher, became the National Programme Coordinator for the Professional Diploma in Mathematics for Teaching at the University of Limerick and began a PhD in Maths Education. After much consideration, in 2017 I decided that a career in research and academia was not for me. I left my full-time position and PhD in the summer of 2017. I began working in a secondary school in Dublin in August of that year, but I quickly realised that I was not cut out for secondary school teaching and handed in my resignation in December of the same year. I love maths and I loved working with the students, but my anxiety got in the way and the stress from the job impacted every other area of my life, so I knew the right decision for me was to leave the profession altogether. I still standby my belief that teaching is one of the hardest occupations there is, and every teacher deserves the utmost respect and kudos for the work they do.
I had completed a Diploma in Gym Instruction way back in 2011, and that was always somewhere in the back of my mind. So, in April 2018 I joined Siobhán O’Hagan’s Personal Trainer Institute. I completed the PT course in November 2018, and began working as an online coach for Siobhán’s OH Fitness Furnace (now The Furnace). I was still teaching for a living while transitioning from one career to the other. I worked in the school during the day and I worked in FLYEfit 4 nights a week (for free). I did enjoy working in FLYEfit, but I really fell in love with the job of personal training when I joined the team at The Gym Howth. The owner, Erica Brennan, has created an environment and atmosphere there that is second to none. It is like one big happy family and everyone is welcome. Erica put her trust in me and believed in my abilities as a trainer, and for that I will be forever grateful. It gave me the confidence to believe in myself and grow as a coach. I finished up teaching in the school at the end of June 2019, and when September loomed closer, I was so happy that I did not have to return to school. The gym was my life now. A weight had been lifted from my shoulders and my body relaxed with the sense of relief that I was on the right track.
Fast forward to January 2020, when I found out that I was 5 months pregnant. It was an unplanned pregnancy so it was a bit of a shock to say the least. It may not have been in my plan, but it was definitely meant to be. I knew this had happened for a reason, a higher purpose. As I write this, my little boy is nearly 2 years old and I wouldn’t change a thing. After I got my head around the initial shock, my mind went into overdrive about what this would mean for me and my new career path that I had just embarked on. I started researching pre- and postnatal fitness, and that was when I came across Lorna. Lorna O’Dwyer (Ur Mama Strength) was the first coach in Ireland to qualify as a Pre- and Postnatal Coaching Specialist through the Girls Gone Strong (GGS) Academy. I reached out to her on Instagram and she could not have been more helpful. We met for a coffee in a small café in Glasnevin and chatted for hours about all thing’s pregnancy and postpartum related. After our chat, I was so buzzed up and I knew that this was my purpose – to help pregnant and postpartum women navigate the world of pre- and postnatal fitness and exercise in a safe and effective manner. I couldn’t sleep for days as ideas floated around my mind. It was at that time that the initial vision for Natal Fitness came to me. I thought of the name then too and it stuck with me. This was all just before the pandemic hit. I was 6 months pregnant when I completed the National Qualification in Pre- and Postnatal Exercise with the National Training Centre in Dublin, on the 8th of March, 5 days before the government announced that the country was going into lockdown. Everything became so uncertain. I took early maternity leave from the gym and moved home to Cavan.
As I progressed through my pregnancy, I kept active with walking every day and light bouts of weight training here and there. I gave birth to my beautiful son in June 2020. When I was 4 months postpartum, I joined Lorna’s online zoom classes and it was one of the best things I ever did. I was really apprehensive about online classes, I just had it in my head that I wouldn’t enjoy them, but how wrong I was. I absolutely loved them and as a new mum, the online format was ideal as I could have my baby beside me during the class or do it at a time that suited me when he was asleep. At the same time, I enrolled on the GGS certification for pre- and postnatal coaching. I completed the course in June 2021. Since then, I have been working hard on figuring out the best way to support as many women as possible on their pregnancy and postpartum journeys, guiding them to achieve their exercise and fitness goals, while also keeping their health and overall well-being as the number 1 priority. I will continue to keep researching and educating myself as I love learning about the female body and all the amazing things, we as women can do, and to ensure my clients receive a service that is centred and built upon the most up-to-date evidence-based research.
The next step is launching this business – Natal Fitness. It has been 2 years in the making, and I am so excited that all of the hard work I have put in is finally coming together. I am so looking forward to working with women who make the decision to put their trust in me, to guide and support them on their pregnancy and postpartum fitness journeys.
