Laura Anderson suffered a traumatic birth when welcoming her newborn daughter, including a dangerous haemorrhage.
The reality star, 34, and her ex, Hollyoaks star Gary Lucy, 41, welcomed their first child together in September, after first meeting on Celebs Go Dating.
Announcing baby girl Bonnie’s birth by saying she was ‘happy and in love,’ it was nevertheless a difficult experience for Laura, who previously revealed she was suffering from bruising and mastitis.
Now the Love Island star has gone into detail on the birth, bravely admitting it was ‘horrendous’ and at times ‘mentally torturous.’
She took to Instagram on Tuesday where she vegan by detailing getting ‘four sweeps’ to try and induce labour, before getting a painful balloon induction which left her unable to walk.
Eventually the TV star opted for the hormone induction, going into labour immediately – but the contractions lasted for 12 hours before she was finally four centimetres dilated and brought to the labour ward.
Laura said it was ‘mentally quite torturous’ to be in labour for so long with no pain relief – but things started moving too quickly after that, as reported by The Sun.
She explained that she began bleeding in the labour ward, and went from four to nine centimetres dilated in just an hour, using gas and air for pain relief – but it wouldn’t work as she was breathing in too quickly.
Despite the pain she was in, Laura admitted she felt ’embarrassed’ to be making too much noise or to be seen as ‘over dramatic,’ and continuously apologised, before eventually pleading for an epidural.
Unfortunately, at nine centimetres she was first told she was too far gone for an epidural to work and was offered different pain relief – but when none of them worked, she was eventually given the injection, which was ‘the best thing ever.’
‘So then I pushed her out, couldn’t feel anything,’ Laura regaled her followers.
‘They were like “push from your bum,” and I was like, “I can’t feel my bum.”‘
After safely welcoming Bonnie, Laura’s recovery was only just beginning, as she suffered a painful second-degree tear and required stitches.
‘Five hours later I had a haemorrhage,’ she revealed.
The incident happened while she was alone and trying to catch some sleep, when she ‘stood up and lost loads of blood.
‘Like loads of clots and I felt really, really faint. I couldn’t reach the buzzer and I don’t know if I shouted but someone came in.’
Recalling the terrifying experience, she went on: ‘I just stayed calm because I thought, “I’ve got everybody around me that needs to be here, doing everything they can.”
‘So I am a bit better in emergencies like that than like smaller things, if I stub my toe it’s the end of the world,’ she joked.
The new mum lost a total of 1.6 litres of blood, admitting it was ‘scary’ – but ‘it’s all worth it and I would do it again.’
That said, she had advice for any mums-to-be: ‘Don’t be the hero. Get the epidural at 4cm.’
Laura previously revealed some nasty bruises on her arm as she jokingly revealed the ‘glamorous life of post-partum.’
The Love Island star also said in her post that she’s desperate to catch up with her friends but there are ‘not enough hours in the day’.
It seems her family are also yet to visit, as she stated sadly that ‘everyone has Covid.’
As for other aspects of her health, Laura went on to share that she has mastitis ‘already’ and was picking up antibiotics to treat it.
Mastitis is an inflammation of breast tissue that sometimes involves an infection.
Metro.co.uk has contacted reps for Laura for comment
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : Laura Anderson reveals nasty bruises on arm after giving birth to baby girl