Meghan, the wife of Prince Harry, revealed on Tuesday she was diagnosed with postpartum pre-eclampsia after giving birth to one of her children, a medical condition she described as rare and scary.
In the first episode of her new podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder, the Duchess of Sussex, said the medical condition was a “huge medical scare” she had to manage without the world knowing what was going on.
Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) says on its website that pre-eclampsia is a condition that affects some pregnant women, usually during the second half of pregnancy or soon after their baby is delivered.
Early signs of pre-eclampsia include having high blood pressure and protein in the urine. In some cases, symptoms can include severe headaches, vision problems, pain below the ribs and vomiting, according to the NHS.
“It’s so rare. And it’s so scary,” the mother of two said, describing the condition.
She did not say if she faced the medical complication after the birth of her son, five-year-old Archie, or her daughter Lilibet, who is three.
“You’re still trying to juggle all these things and the world doesn’t know what is happening,” Meghan said. “You’re still trying to show up, mostly for your children. But those things are huge medical scares.”
Meghan’s first podcast guest was Whitney Wolfe Herd, chief executive of online dating platform Bumble. Herd said in the podcast that she had also suffered from the condition, which she described as “life or death”.
The NHS said many cases of pre-eclampsia are mild but the condition can lead to serious complications for both the mother and the baby if it is not monitored and treated.
