Dannii Minogue has revealed that shortly after giving birth to her only child Ethan, the star suffered various health problems. The Australian beauty admitted that the complications she experienced in the first stages of motherhood made it "very hard" to be a mum.
Dannii, who was speaking candidly in an interview with Show and Tell, welcomed her son in 2010 with her ex-boyfriend Kris Smith. She had previously planned for a home birth but instead had to have a caesarean.
When asked about whether she felt the pressure to lose any post-baby weight, Dannii admitted: "I had no pressure to get back into shape quickly, and instead of going back to my shape I was actually a lot thinner."
© Photo: Getty ImagesDannii Minogue revealed that she had a thyroid problem followed by appendicitis
"I had some health troubles that were undiagnosed for a while," the 43-year-old added. "I was really struggling and losing weight rapidly. I had thyroid trouble, which apparently is quite common after having a baby.
"About a week after I found that out and just started to even get that under control, I ended up in hospital with appendicitis. I had my appendix out. My body was really struggling with a lot of things that weren't working. It was very hard to be a mum."
© Photo: Getty ImagesDannii Minogue said that she didn't want to be "skinny", she just wanted to be "a healthy mum"
She noted: "It was quite weird for me because I had people coming up to me saying, 'Oh you look fabulous, you've bounced back. You're so skinny.' And I thought, skinny isn't what I want to be. I don't even need to be the size I was before. I just need to be a healthy mum so that I can look after my child.
"It's interesting to see how important it is to other people to see that you are skinny again."
© Photo: Getty ImagesDannii Minogue and her ex-boyfriend Kris Smith welcomed son Ethan in 2010
Dannii, who first shot to fame in the early eighties for her roles in Young Talent Time and Home and Away, has a host of skills and awards under her belt. Apart from being an international pop star and singer-songwriter, Dannii has also made waves as a fashion designer.
She admitted that while there is a lot of pressure to look a certain way in show business, she felt she had the "inner strength" not to succumb to it.
"Entertainment loves the fountain of youth," said Dannii. "But I have a real inner strength that there will come a day when people don't want to put me on camera – and that's okay. There will be that day. But I think that if you have integrity and intelligence within your personality, then there will be a greater desire to still have you on TV and have you around."
