Trim Emmerdale star Natalie Anderson has revealed for the first time all the details of her son's dramatic birth. Introducing one-month-old baby Frederic George James – known as Freddie - in an exclusive interview and photoshoot with HELLO! magazine, the actress also tells of how she managed to lose almost all her baby weight within just four weeks of his birth.
Freddie, who is Natalie's first child with husband James Shepherd, was born amid much drama, when his heart-rate dropped alarmingly low because the unbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. "Every time I was having a really intense contraction, his heart was just stopping as the cord was tightening," says Natalie. "It was the scariest time of our lives. They knew they had to get him out and said if nothing happened in the next five minutes I'd need to go to theatre for an emergency C-section." In the event, however, Freddie was born naturally – and his parents are besotted. "When he was born all I could feel was overwhelming love for him," Natalie says. "When they put him on my chest and I could see him for the first time, it was amazing. I would relive that moment over and over again. "Freddie is surrounded by so much love. We are so lucky." Elsewhere in the interview, Natalie reveals that she has already lost all but 4lbs of her baby weight.
"I had a very compact bump and carried Freddie neatly across the front, which people say is more common with boys," she explains. "I just ate very healthily throughout and the weight that's gone is Freddie. I'm breastfeeding as well, but I didn't think it would come off so quickly." To read more of the interview with Natalie, including the inspiration behind his name, her plans to introduce him to the Emmerdale cast and details of his nursery, pick up the latest issue of HELLO!. See the full exclusive story in HELLO! Magazine, out now.
