Sophie Wessex has offered some heartfelt encouragement to a group of new mums at Great Ormond Street hospital.
The Countess, who collapsed at her home in November 2003 before giving birth to daughter Louise four weeks early, shared the experience with other mothers who had undergone the trauma of an emergency Caesarean. "It was just a blur," she revealed. "I didn't see her for the first few days." The 40-year-old, who nearly lost her life giving birth to Lady Louise, took time to speak individually with many of the women who are facing the same worries and uncertainty she went through two years ago.
Chatting with Naomi Hickton, whose daughter Millie was born eight weeks premature, reminded the royal visitor of the distress she felt upon seeing her own little girl fighting for her life in an incubator. "It's quite frightening when you can't see them for the wires," she recalled. "But they grow bigger before you know it and you forget they were like this."
She also identified with Naomi's sense of bewilderment at seeing her baby hooked up to all sorts of machines and monitors. "You hear 'beep-beep-beep' and you think 'What on earth is that?'," she said. After the meeting Ms Hickton said she had taken some comfort from her royal encounter. "The Countess told me that Millie is actually only an ounce under what Louise was when she came home," revealed the 40-year-old.
Prince Edward's pretty wife was visiting the neo-natal unit to unveil a new statue of Neverland's Tinkerbell which has been added to the facility's well-known sculpture of Peter Pan. And the fairytale character wasn't the only little charmer who caught her attention, as six-month-old Jaya Gill seemed rather reluctant to let go of her VIP guest's finger.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
