Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Duchess of Coo-bridge
NEWBORN baby Max was given a very special greeting at just 16 hours old – when the Duchess of Cambridge “popped in” for a virtual bedside visit.
Cooing as the tot lay snuggled in his cot, Kate told proud mum Rebecca Atwood and dad John Gill: “Hello! Very nice to meet you! This is definitely a first, I think!
“Well firstly, huge congratulations. He is so sweet. When did you have him?”
Told he had arrived at 10pm the previous night, Kate replied: “My goodness, you must be exhausted.”
“Yep! I’m pretty tired now,” agreed Rebecca.
Mum-of-three Kate’s surprise came during a morale-boosting call to staff at Kingston Hospital’s Maternity Unit in South West London – where she spent two days on work placement last November.
For two years the Duchess has been examining early years development in children as part of her focus with her Royal Foundation charity.
Six midwives took it in turns to join the chat, keeping a safe social distance. One donned personal protective equipment before taking a laptop in to introduce the Duchess to baby Max and his parents.
ANXIETY
From her Anmer Hall home in Norfolk, where the Cambridge family are staying during lockdown, Kate asked about mums’ emotional wellbeing and their main concerns during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Perinatal mental health midwife Jo Doumouchtsi said they had seen an increase in referrals for anxiety, adding: “Main issues are coming into hospital and worries about catching Covid, but also about the isolation after the baby is born.
“They have to self-isolate, so they are having limited support from their other family members.”
Midwife Jennifer Tshibamba added: “We want women to know we’re still here to listen to you, to make sure we provide the best care for your pregnancy, for your baby and support your family.”
The hospital’s perinatal mental health team is also sending out a weekly newsletter listing coping mechanisms and relevant services for new mums.
Kate – like husband William, a champion of mental health charities – responded: “That’s probably such a valuable tool for them, particularly now. To you all there, you do an amazing job.
“The fact you’re having to work in these difficult times – well done.”
Chatting to antenatal midwives, Kate, 38, spoke about the importance of staff being able to reach out for help if they are struggling themselves with mental health. She said: “We’ve heard it with the frontline workers, they don’t feel they can reach out because they feel guilty for doing it, which is extraordinary to hear. They don’t want to feel like
they’re overburdening but it is so important to reach out and ask for help when you do need it.”
Details of Kate’s call, on April 22, were revealed yesterday.
She and William, 37, have also created a new text service to help key workers on the frontline. For the first time, leading mental health charities will work together to provide 24/7 support.
Mind, Samaritans, Shout, Hospice UK and the Cambridges’ Royal Foundation will provide one-to-one support and online resources for NHS staff, carers, the Blue Light emergency services and key workers keeping Britain moving. William said the programme was their “top priority”.
Ahead of the UK’s Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week tomorrow, Kate spoke to other health professionals in a second
Nice to meet you and huge congrats! He is so sweet... you must be exhausted
DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE IN VIDEO CHAT TO NEW PARENTS
video call. Typically, more than one in 10 women experience a mental illness during pregnancy or in the first postnatal year. Seven per cent hide or underplay their illness.
Kate said: “It’s important to access and reach out for help when you do need it. Parents do need to go out and reach out to those who can support them, particularly those who provide a knowledgeable resource as well.”
The Duchess also advocated talking to other parents.
She said: “You speak to six mums and all of you realise you are going through the same thing. Before that, you’re worried that what you’re experiencing, you’re the only one who’s going through it.
“And it’s the same through pregnancy or with a newborn baby. To be able to share it – on the phone, through social media, in any form actually – it does provide that normality and normalising of some of these anxieties and these worries.”
Dr Alain Gregoire, of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance UK, said:
“Your mental health is important and if you need help, get help – the NHS is here to give the advice, support and care you need.”
KATE and Wills’ daughter Princess Charlotte yesterday celebrated her fifth birthday in lockdown with a party with brothers Prince George, six, and Prince Louis, two, and Zoom calls from relatives including her great-gran the Queen.