Princess Beatrice opens up about ‘incredibly lonely’ period in her life
Princess Beatrice has lifted the lid on the struggles of premature birth and how it can be a 'lonely' time for new parents.
Beatrice, 37, the eldest daughter of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the disgraced former Duke of York and King Charles III's brother, is fronting a campaign for the premature birth research charity Borne, whose podcast she appeared on today (17 November) ahead of World Prematurity Day.
The princess’s second daughter, Athena Elizabeth Rose, whom she shares with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, was born several weeks premature on January 22.
The royal couple also share daughter Sienna Elizabeth, four, and Beatrice is step-mum to Edoardo's son from a previous relationship, Christopher Woolf.
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Beatrice candidly said during the podcast episode: "I think so often, especially as mums, we spend our lives, you know, feeling we have to be perfect to do this. And sometimes, when you are faced with that moment of learning that your baby’s going to come a bit early, it can be incredibly lonely."
She recalled: “And even now, talking to some of the moms who know about my work with Borne, they feel this sense of, like, sort of life-changing relief that can come with knowing that there is an organisation there that is supporting the research and supporting the questions, and asking some of these important questions."
Beatrice was due to give birth to her daughter in early spring, and in December received medical advice not to travel long distances.
She joined the royal family at church in Sandringham on Christmas Day after changing her travel plans from spending the festive period overseas, with doctors said to have warned that a premature arrival was a possibility.
And this isn't the first time Beatrice has opened up about being a mum to a premature baby, as back in March, she penned an emotional essay published in Vogue.
The mother-of-two admitted that 'nothing quite prepares you for the moment when you realise your baby is going to arrive early' and talked about there being 'so little control'.
Beatrice wrote: "Will she arrive healthy? Will there be complications? How will you juggle the rest of family life while trying to keep a tiny human safe and well?"
She added: "You know that when your baby arrives, the doctors and midwives are going to be there, doing everything they can to ensure she makes it through those challenging first few days.
"But you have no idea how these things will play out, what happens next. The uncertainty leaves you with an overwhelming fear of the unknown."
Last week, Beatrice, who is patron of Borne, visited the charity’s research laboratories at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London as part of the Every Week Counts campaign.
She told the Borne Podcast she hopes her support of the campaign will 'bring as many people that have had their own stories, to come and share them', adding: “Then maybe we can learn from each other.”
The royal said: “My favourite thing about being a mum is the fact that it’s like a secret, you know, it almost feels like a secret club of sharing stories. And I love the fact that Borne is there to support them (mothers) when they’re going through something incredibly traumatic, and how can we make sure that phenomenal data, great tools, great doctors, have everything at their disposal so that no Mum can feel alone.”
Each year, 60,000 babies are born prematurely in the UK, making for one in 13 births and as for around the world, 15 million babies are born early, and complications from prematurity remain the leading cause of neonatal death and lifelong disability, according to Borne.
Yet, pregnancy and childbirth receive less than 2 % of medical research funding, the charity said.
Beatrice added: “I was really quite shocked to learn that we really do not have as much data with women’s health, with pregnant women’s health. So I was really passionate about high-quality data being able to enrich the medical field.
“I think the key thing is that all the scientists that we’ve approached to be part of the Borne collaborative have said: look, alone, we are making no progress, but with Borne helping us to work together, we will make a difference.
“We will change what is going on in the hospitals every day all around the world.”
Topics: Princess Beatrice, Royal Family, Parenting, Mental Health, UK News, Life
Madison Burgess