Stacey Solomon admitted she was left ‘traumatised’ by her first pregnancy aged 18, and was ‘furious’ with her mother for not telling her the realities of childbirth.
The presenter – who has sons Zachary, nine, and Leyton, five – said she had no idea the ‘giant alien thing coming out of me’ was her placenta, because her female relatives had glossed over the process.
Solomon, 27, added that she was ‘mortified’ because she wasn’t told about stitches after the birth – and feels her ignorance over pregnancy fuelled her post-natal depression.
Candid: Stacey Solomon admitted she was left ‘traumatised’ by her first pregnancy aged 18, and was ‘furious’ with her mother for not telling her the realities of childbirth
Speaking on ITV’s Loose Women on Friday, she called for women to speak more openly about labour.
She said: ‘My experience with childbirth was a traumatic one, my age came into it because I was really really young.
‘I was furious at my mum, my aunties, every woman in my family, for telling me it would be painful but at the end it would be this wonderful feeling, I’d forget all about the pain, [but] it was traumatic.
‘I don’t want to sit here and scare the rest of the woman population, women do it every day and I did it again but I was devastated I wasn’t given the proper run through – this might be a bit gross for lunch time – but I didn’t even know the placenta came out after the baby.
Not impressed: The presenter – who has sons Zachary, nine, and Leyton, five – said she had no idea the ‘giant alien thing coming out of me’ was her placenta, because her female relatives had glossed over the process
Dark place: She said: ‘I did not expect this huge giant alien thing to be coming out of me after I’d already spent 22 hours pushing the first alien thingy out’
‘You laugh but I did not expect this huge giant alien thing to be coming out of me after I’d already spent 22 hours pushing the first alien thingy out.
‘I was mortified. I wasn’t told about stitches, or how to deal with it afterwards, it ruined my experience and put me in a dark place and I think it’s so important we speak about our experiences truthfully…
‘I suffered post-natal depression after Zachary and I think breastfeeding and unawareness about what I was about to go through were the main contributors to that. I felt very unprepared and unequipped.’
Traumatic: Solomon, 27, added that she was ‘mortified’ because she wasn’t told about stitches after the birth – and feels her ignorance over pregnancy fuelled her post-natal depression
Sugar-coated: Stacey insists there were many opportunities for her to be given the full picture, but no one did
And Stacey insists there were many opportunities for her to be given the full picture, but no one did.
She added: ‘I went to anti-natal classes, I asked my mum, I asked my aunties, and all of the women in my family who’d had children, so I asked about it.
‘You go, “Is it really gonna hurt?” And people go, “No, would you do it again if it was that bad?”
Painful: She added: ‘You go, “Is it really gonna hurt?” And people go, “No, would you do it again if it was that bad?”
‘If you’ve never broken a bone or been to the gynae, even the fact you’ve got to open your legs to the world and his wife, if that baby isn’t coming out they’ll shove their hands up and rip it out, be honest.
‘I had full on up to the arms, ripping the baby out… They were tugging, they weren’t gently coaxing.’
The former X Factor star – who is in a relationship with Joe Swash – advised women who are having babies to take control of their own labour.
She said: ‘Be in control, don’t let anybody push you around with this because it’s one of the hardest things you’ll do as a human being, let them know how you want to do it.’
Take control: The former X Factor star – who is in a relationship with Joe Swash – advised women who are having babies to take control of their own labour