Rebecca Adlington has opened up about her devastating experiences with two miscarriages.
The retired Olympic swimmer is a mum to two little ones - Summer (9) and Albie (3) - which she parents with her husband Andy Parsons.
In August 2022, Rebecca confirmed that she had suffered a miscarriage at 12 weeks. Then, in October of last year, Rebecca tragically experienced another baby loss at 20 weeks. The couple heartbreakingly lost a baby girl, which they later named Harper.
Speaking on Giovanna Fletcher’s Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast, Rebecca reflected on her heartbreaking first miscarriage.
“I just didn’t even think that I’d have to have emergency surgery. Then I got sepsis, and it was just horrific. It was the worst 10 days of my life,” Rebecca admitted.
The sports star then went on to note that she was hopeful about her next pregnancy, but that she was still “so anxious”.
“When we went for our 12 week scan, it was that massive relief of, ‘Everything’s fine, oh my God!’ It was just music to our ears,” Rebecca recalled.
She later detailed that she had a “gut-wrenching feeling” on the day of her 20 week scan, adding: “There was nothing to place that on. Nothing at all. I’d had no symptoms.”
Thinking back on her scan, Rebecca explained: “I looked at the woman’s face, and she was like, ‘I’m just going to get my manager,’ and then I was like, ‘Something’s not right, is it?’, and [Andy] was like, ‘I don’t think so.’”
“We just held each other’s hands and we were just deadly silent until she came back in. She was like, ‘I’m really sorry. There’s no heartbeat,’” Rebecca shared through tears.
“Last time, I’d had surgery, so I thought that would be the same. You don’t think about what goes on. To have to give birth, I thought, that’s so cruel. It was a horrible three days. I felt like I was trapped in a nightmare that I couldn’t comprehend,” she continued.
“We did hold her. We had quite a lot of time with her, because it just felt right. They put a little hat on her and a little blanket. It was just like she was asleep. It was the most painful, horrible thing to ever happen, but it was done in a really sensitive, beautiful way, which I know some people are not lucky enough for, so I’m grateful for that support that was there,” Rebecca concluded.
