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Miranda Kerr, 12 weeks after the birth of her son Credit: Michael Tran/FilmMagic

Hollywood is full of amazing post-baby transformations, from Victoria Beckham to Miranda Kerr, the world's most famous working Aussie model, who was back at work in a bikini not three months after giving birth to her baby Flynn in 2011.

However a survey in the UK has found that away from the world of celebrities, it's more likely to take over a year for a new mum to return to her pre-baby state.

The poll, carried out by website Mojomums, quizzed 1000 new mums on how long it took them to get their 'mojo' back.

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According to the survey it takes a mother on average 409 days to get her figure and her libido back - much longer than the eight weeks between the birth of Harper Seven Beckham and her mum's appearance at New York Fashion Week looking typically svelte.

Some of the mums, around 15 per cent, were still waiting for their mojo to return.

The poll found that for most mothers the 13 month recovery was around five months longer than they had anticipated.

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Difficulty in shedding baby weight, constant tiredness and no time to themselves were some of the reasons women gave for a slow return to how they felt pre-pregnancy.

For most of the surveyed mums, returning to a job that permitted them a favourable work/life balance was the most important measure of post-baby recovery.

While Victoria Beckham immediately started on a strict exercise regime after the birth of Harper, there are celebrity examples of a post-baby experience that more closely resembles the one your average working mum endures. Pop star Pink was snapped last month 'showing off her post-baby bod' 12 months after the birth of her daughter Willow Sage.

Tracey Spicer and Adene Cassidy chat about the challenge of being successful working mums: