Former Channel Seven reporter Jessica Ridley discusses why she choose motherhood over career

Former Channel Seven reporter Jessica Ridley (née Dietrich) became a freelance journalist after welcoming her first son, Frank, last year.

And the 32-year-old discussed her decision to choose motherhood over her career as a journalist.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, she explained that she and her husband Ben mulled over the idea of how she could balance reporting on the road and being a mother.

Despite being offered flexibility by the network, she chose her baby boy.

‘It’s just not practical to be working that much right now,’ Jessica, who worked 3am mornings as a reporter for Sunrise, said.

Jessica acknowledged that there are other women out there who can manage to strike the balance between motherhood and career ambition, but noted that it was something she could not do just yet.

‘I’m encouraged you can have both, but I’m really at the crossroads of parenthood and ambition at the ­moment,’ she said.

The brunette beauty added that she wasn’t not giving up on her career, but instead opting for work that would suit her family life better.

‘The experiences you have are like nothing else and the newsroom is like nowhere else and you miss it when you’re in not there. I know I’ll be back in some shape or form,’ she said of working in the media.

On her Instagram, she’s made recent appearances on a discussion segment for Channel Nine’s Today Extra opposite Tom Tilley, and hosts David Campbell and Belinda Russell. 

Last year, she was also on Sunrise’s Newsfeed segment for another discussion segment with Natalie Barr, Kylie Gillies and Matt Doran.  

Jessica and her husband Ben, who tied the knot in Bondi back in 2017, celebrated baby Frank’s first birthday on Wednesday.