Derval’s a mum on run
World champion’s pregnancy joy after miscarriage agony
WORLD champion runner Derval O’rourke has told of her joy at being pregnant with her second child. The three-time Olympian is due next Spring – and revealed her baby news comes after she a miscarriage earlier this year. Derval, from Co Cork, retired from athletics in 2014. She is already mother to three-yearold Dafne, her daughter with sailor husband Peter O’leary. She said: “I’m pregnant now and due at the end of March, which is great. It has been very hard. I had a miscarriage back in May and I found it really difficult. “It feels disingenuous to this pregnancy not to mention that, which might seem strange, but that’s how it is. “I didn’t tell anyone for a long time because I was worried. I was a bit anxious before this, but now I feel good after being with the doctor at 18 weeks.”
PAINFUL
The 37-year-old, back on our TV screens as a coach on RTE’S Ireland’s Fittest Family, commended show host Kathryn Thomas for highlighting the painful issue.
The presenter revealed on the Late Late Show in January how she had suffered two miscarriages before becoming pregnant with baby Ellie.
Derval said: “I found Kathryn’s interview impactful. Not a lot of people talk about it, although it affects a high percentage of women.
“A few months later, I had a miscarriage and what she said was in my head and it helped.”
She added with usual host Mairead Farrell off on maternity leave and Kathryn just back, Ireland’s Fittest Family is all “baby bumps”.
Derval, who is about to launch her new health website derval.ie, admits she loves being a mother but is frank about how much of a lifestyle change it is.
She added: “I found it such a transition. Retiring from athletics was a piece of cake compared to becoming a mother. I was like, ‘This is a completely different ball game’.
“The hardest thing to adjust to after having a baby was the sense of a loss of freedom.”
news@irishmirror.ie
Retiring from athletics was a piece of cake compared to the transition of becoming a mum
DERVAL O’ROURKE YESTERDAY