A MUM who admits having a baby “ruined her career” says trolls have dubbed her a ‘bad mum’ and accused her of hating her son.
High-flyer Derricka Hill, 31, unexpectedly fell pregnant with her little boy, Derriawn, one, in October 2023.
Despite being career-focused in her role as a marketing recruiter – which saw her work 50-hour weeks – Derricka was excited to experience motherhood.
Derriawn was born via caesarean on June 28, 2024, weighing 9 lb.
But, since returning to work, Derriawn has had a constant three-month chronic ear infection and has contracted salmonella.
This left single mum Derricka having to use her annual leave and take unpaid days off to care for him.
Some weeks, she is only able to work 25 hours a week in order to look after Derriawn and she says the reduced hours have “ruined her career” because time off means she’s “not a valuable employee”.
But she insists she “wouldn’t be without him”.
Derricka, who has full custody of her little boy, from Seattle, Washington State, said: “I ruined my career by having a son.
“When I have time off, I don’t bring money into the business. I’m not as valuable as an employee in a business sense.
“I wanted to experience the trials and tribulations of motherhood.
“People online call me a ‘bad mother’ or say that I hate my son. I don’t, he is my whole world, but being a single mum working full time in corporate America is tough.
“Plus, dealing with a child who is sick is an added layer.
“I’d never be without him but my career has suffered enormously. I don’t have the luxury of giving up work because it’s just me and Derriawn.
“Everything I do is for him.”
Before becoming a mum, Derricka said she “worked hard and played harder”.
Working as a certified nursing assistant for seven years, she then got into marketing recruitment – a job which saw her work up to 50 hours a week.
“I lived for my job, I wanted to be successful in my career,” Derricka said. “I worked hard but played harder.
“I only had myself to take care of and I could do whatever I wanted.”
Life changed when Derricka unexpectedly fell pregnant in October 2023 and she “decided to go it alone”.
After an “emotionally intense” pregnancy, on June 28, 2024, she welcomed her son, Derriawn David D’Angelo, two weeks past his due date.
Taking her three-month paid maternity leave, in September 2024, Derricka returned to work.
Despite having help from her grandma and mum, Dawn Bellmy, 50, who works in healthcare, on the weekends, in March 2025 Derricka began to struggle with the demands of her work and home life.
She said: “My grandma wasn’t able to have Derriawn as he got too heavy for her to lift on her own, and my mum works full-time during the week.
“In March, Derriawn started contracting chronic ear infections one after the other.
“He’d cry relentlessly throughout the night because he was in so much pain, which meant I got little to no sleep and struggled to function at work the next day.
“It was heartbreaking to see as his mum.
“In May, he contracted salmonella too.
“Taking him back and forth to doctors and caring for him meant unpaid time off work.
“He hasn’t gotten better, and doctors aren’t able to recommend further than the antibiotics that he’s taking.
“Corporate America is a beast, but I’m always going to put my son first.
“Having him was my beautiful accident.
“That’s why being a mum ruined my career, but I don’t regret it for a second.”
Posting an honest rant on TikTok on June 20, it has amassed more than 600,000 views.
Derricka said: “I didn’t expect so many people to watch me in that video, I just wanted to voice how frustrated I was feeling with it all.
“Some people have commented, ‘should have kept your legs closed’ and ‘where’s the dad?’.
“I just try and laugh it off.
“I’m a single mum and I’m proud of it.
“But other people have reached out with messages of support or said they can relate.
“That’s the point, motherhood is unpredictable. You don’t know what it will chuck at you.
“My son is my whole world; everything I do is for him.
“I think I’m one and done, I couldn’t handle another kid at the moment – I don’t think my career would survive it either.”
Meanwhile, it seems Derricka isn’t the only mum struggling.
A mum has shared a brutally honest post about how she regrets having a baby and wishes she never had, as parenthood has turned her into a “shell of her former self”.
Elsewhere, one mum revealed she ‘contracted a cold when pregnant and didn’t even know’ she had it, leaving her baby girl brain damaged for life’.
Plus, another mum was left fuming after stranger leaves most passive aggressive note ever on her car BANNING her from using parent parking spot.
