Meghan Markle has been praised for opening up about her health scare after childbirth, but a charity boss has warned the effects of such trauma can be ‘doubly traumatic’
Meghan Markle bravely opened up about her health on her debut episode of the Confessions of a Female Founder podcast.
The Duchess of Sussex revealed her own harrowing experience with “rare and scary” postpartum pre-eclampsia. Meghan opened up about the struggle, divulging that amid the silent battle, she continued striving to be there for others, stating, “You’re still trying to juggle all these things and the world doesn’t know what is happening, quietly, and in the quiet you are still trying to show up for people.”
Author Kim Thomas echoed the gravity of Meghan’s revelations, acknowledging that such complications can haunt women for years to come.
Thomas emphasized how unexpected traumatic childbirth experiences like Meghan’s are particularly shocking due to cultural expectations of joy at such times, adding, “When something goes wrong or isn’t expected, as in Meghan’s case, it can almost be doubly traumatic, and can feel extra shocking.”
Meghan Markle has released a brand new podcast (Image: Spotify)
She also commended Meghan’s choice to share her story, which could provide solace to other women who’ve endured similar fears. Meghan candidly discussed her ordeal with pre-eclampsia and its daunting impact, saying, “In the quiet you’re still trying to show up mostly for your children. But those things are huge medical scares.”
Thomas, who is the UK’s Birth Trauma Association CEO, told The Mirror these conversations can be particularly challenging for women in the spotlight. “It’s been great that quite a lot of high-profile women have spoken out about their birth traumas because it can make others feel less alone, but there’s never an expectation on them that they must speak about it.”
She went on to explain, “It can be difficult for all women, but especially women like Meghan who are in the public eye and they have been through something awful, something traumatic, and yet the public expects them to be out and about, probably wearing a nice dress and waving, because they’re not aware of what they’ve been through.”
Elsewhere in Meghan’s podcast, she opened up about her new business As Ever and admitted she was “overwhelmed” when it launched. Speaking to Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder of dating app Bumble, the Duchess of Sussex said every decision feels “monumental” and revealed how she felt overwhelmed when sorting the packaging for her As Ever products.
The former Suits star explained that despite having a great team working with her, she was constantly thinking about the packaging, asking herself questions such as whether the packing peanuts where biodegradable, where to place stickers and what size the box should be.
She shared, “Let’s be honest, launching a business, it can be so overwhelming. Even with the best of teams, it’ll keep you up at night because every single decision, every micro detail, in that moment it feels monumental. For example, a month ago I was absolutely consumed with packaging.
“Boxes, that’s all I could think about. And I would sit there, doing the unboxing in my head; is there tissue paper, what about the packing peanuts, are they biodegradable, where does the sticker go and hold on and what size is the box going to be and that’s not going to fit.”
She added, “Oh my gosh, and then someone says, ‘You don’t want to brand the outside of the box because of porch pirates.’ Had never heard that before, what’s a porch pirate? And then I’m sitting there and I’m like, does any of this actually matter? Of course it matters. It matters at the beginning, but how much does it matter.”
