MEGHAN’S COUNTDOWN
Her hopes for a home birth
She’s into the final stretch! Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’s recent revelation that her baby is due at the end of April means she’s now around 29 weeks pregnant and starting her third trimester.
Luckily for Meghan, her run of good health seems to be continuing and she’s been able to launch herself into her new royal role. Unlike her sister-inlaw Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, who suffered debilitating morning sickness with her three pregnancies, Meghan appeared to sail through the first trimester.
During her trip to Australia with husband Prince Harry last October, when her pregnancy was announced, she admitted she hadn’t been sleeping and missed one appointment due to being tired, but other than that, she was well.
For many women, the second trimester is the easiest and Meghan (37) has certainly looked the picture of health at the engagements she’s carried out over the past three months. But that could start to change in the final months as she becomes prone to symptoms like pelvic pain, swollen legs and feet, and indigestion. She also may find it difficult to sleep again thanks to not being able to get comfortable in bed and needing to get up a lot in the night to go to the bathroom.
Meghan has been doing yoga throughout her pregnancy and will no doubt be keen to carry on with that until the last minute. Although she is regarded as a “geriatric” mum-to-be because she’s over 35, she’s in great shape thanks to staying fit and eating well, and it’s believed there are no anticipated problems with the later stages of pregnancy and childbirth.
Details have yet to be released about when Meghan will take maternity leave, but it’s thought because she’s still quite new to the job, she’ll be keen to carry out official engagements as long as she can.
“If she’s still fit and well, then there shouldn’t be a problem with that,” says a royal insider.
Kate (37) started her leave around a month before the birth of her children, and while she had just six weeks off with her firstborn, Prince George (5) and four months with Princess Charlotte (3), she took six months leave with Prince Louis (9 months). How long Meghan has off will depend on how well things go with the birth and first weeks of the baby’s life.
Kate had all of her babies at the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in London, where Harry and Prince William (36) were also born, but it seems Meghan may not follow in her footsteps. She’s rumoured to want a home birth which, until recently, would have been in keeping with royal trends. The Queen was born at home and so were all her children, with sons Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward being delivered at Buckingham Palace, and Princess Anne born at Clarence House. But her grandchildren were delivered in hospitals as were her seven great-grandkids.
Meghan is said to want a more private and relaxed birth at home, and she and Harry have been checking out their options, says royal correspondent Katie Nicholl. “There is some talk that Meghan might opt for a home birth, but given this is her first baby, doctors will likely advise a hospital birth.”
If she and Harry (34) take that option, they’re unlikely to go to the Lindo Wing. That’s because they’re due to have moved into their new home, Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, by the time the baby is due and the West London hospital won’t be as easily accessible as it is to Kensington Palace.
“If they have settled in Frogmore Cottage, it will make sense for the duchess to have the baby at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey,” tells the palace source. “It is much closer and it is a very good hospital.”
It’s where Harry’s aunt Sophie, Countess of Wessex, gave birth to Lady Louise and James, Viscount Severn. Louise’s birth in 2003 was traumatic, with staff performing an emergency Caesarean after Sophie suffered a placental abruption, which put both her and Louise in grave danger. Sophie’s a big fan of the doctors and nurses at Frimley, and highly recommends them.