Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, revealed in the first episode of her new podcast that she suffered from postpartum preeclampsia.
Meghan, formerly Meghan Markle, who shares 5-year-old Archie and 3-year-old Lilibet with her husband, Prince Harry, shared the news Tuesday during a conversation with Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd on “Confessions of a Female Founder with Meghan.”
“We both had very similar experiences, though we didn’t know each other at the time, with postpartum, and we both had preeclampsia. Postpartum preeclampsia,” said the duchess.
“Can you believe we both had that? It’s so rare,” Herd said.
“It’s so rare ... and so scary,” Meghan responded.
“And you’re still trying to juggle all of these things, and the world doesn’t know what’s happening, quietly,” Meghan continued. “And in the quiet, you’re still trying to show up for people. And in the quiet, you’re still just trying to show up mostly for your children, but those things are huge medical scares.”
“I mean life or death, truly,” Herd said.
Postpartum preeclampsia is a rare but serious condition related to high blood pressure and occurs up to six weeks after giving birth. It can cause a stroke, brain damage, seizures — and in some cases death — if it is not treated, according to Cleveland Clinic.
The condition is different than preeclampsia, which occurs during pregnancy. People who did not experience preeclampsia while pregnant can get postpartum preeclampsia.
Herd went on to talk about the moment when Meghan debuted Archie to the world after she gave birth.
“I’ll never forget the image of you after you delivered Archie, and the whole world was waiting for his debut,” she said. “I was either just becoming or about to become a new mom, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, how is this woman doing this? How is this woman putting on heels and going and debuting a child in this beautiful outfit in front of the entire world?’ I could barely face a doorbell delivery for takeout food in a robe.”
“Postpartum is wild, it’s so wild. It’s almost like one foot in one world and one foot in another world, and it’s a very confusing place to live in,” she added.
“Confessions of a Female Founder with Meghan” will feature “fly-on-the-wall conversations” between Meghan and other female entrepreneurs.
