TV presenter Holly Willoughby has shared her candid thoughts on the health concerns she faced during the birth of her first child.
In her book ‘Reflections’, initially published in 2021, Holly, 44, recounted her experience of giving birth to her son Harry, now 15, in 2009. At the time, she had the option to have an epidural, which she chose due to fear and a desire for control.
Holly, who also has two other children, Belle, 12, and Chester, nine, with her husband and TV producer Dan Baldwin, reflected on the experience and how it taught her the importance of trusting her body’s instincts.
She wrote: “The most profound lesson I learned about trusting my intuition came when I gave birth for the first time. When I got to hospital, the midwife told me I was fully dilated and ready to push.”
However, as a first-time mother, Holly was afraid and opted for an epidural to maintain some control over the situation. In hindsight, she wonders if she let fear dictate her decision.
She explained: “I didn’t have a bad birth experience, and perhaps at the time the epidural was the right thing to do. But with hindsight, I can’t help thinking that I let fear get in the way.”
Holly believes that her body was capable of handling the birth without the epidural, and if she had trusted her instincts, she might have made a different choice.
She noted: “All the signs were there that my body knew exactly what it was doing; I simply had to trust it to push this baby out so I could hold it in my arms. Had I been less scared I think my intuition would have told me that.”
The buzz around Holly Willoughby’s first childbirth has resurfaced as she makes a comeback to the screen, this time teaming up with survival expert Bear Grylls on ‘Celebrity Bear Hunt’.
At a red carpet event covered by DevonLive, Bear couldn’t help but commend his fellow presenter.
Bear expressed his admiration, saying: “Holly’s such a key part of this, not only for them, but also for me. You were a light and love and empathy to all of these people, you were the yin to my yang.”
He continued to laud Holly: “Holly was a dream. I’ve never really worked with anyone else like that before. She’s just gentle, heart-led. She was nervous. She was in at the deep end.”
In a reciprocal show of appreciation, Holly spoke highly of Bear, calling him “very inspiring” and shared how his presence was a source of strength during challenging times: “it was good to have someone like Bear next to you saying that being brave is about using that fear, harnessing it and doing it anyway”.