Daisy Atkins has detailed her traumatic birth story when she give birth eight weeks early via C-section to her daughter Ada.
The EastEnders star, 37, says the hospital where she was due to give birth, turned her away because there ‘wasn’t enough beds’ in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
She told the Mirror: ‘They were aware how early the baby was coming, and said they didn’t have enough beds in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.’
‘So we called the nearest hospital, which luckily was Chelsea and Westminster. I remember sobbing on the phone to the poor woman on the other end. She said, ‘Don’t worry, just come in and we’ll look after you’. She was wonderful.’
When Ada was born, she was on oxygen in an incubator and fed through a tube, she spent four weeks in neonatal intensive care as she grew stronger and developed the ability to breathe by herself.
Troubling times: Daisy Atkins has detailed her traumatic birth story when she give birth eight weeks early via C-section to her daughter Ada
Worrying:The EastEnders star, 37, says the hospital where she was due to give birth, turned her away because there ‘wasn’t enough beds’ in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Daisy and her husband Neil spent 12 hours a day at Ada’s bedside as she started life in an incubator, on oxygen, being fed through a tube and spent four weeks in neonatal intensive care as she built up the strength to breathe and feed for herself.
While in hospital, Ada, who is now four years old, was diagnosed with a hole in her heart but has made good progress since.
She will have surgery to close the hole next year.
Daisy, who has written for the hit comedy My Family and also starred in Casualty, recalled the sigh of relief when a hospital finally helped her.
Daisy told how she was already having a stressful pregnancy due to her irregular shaped uterus. Daisy’s bicornuate uterus was so severe that her womb was effectively split in half, making it harder for her to carry a child.
The soap star was warned about the risks of carrying a baby.
She said: ‘When you do have a successful pregnancy, the baby has less room to grow. I was aware of the risks and that my baby might come early, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.
‘Thankfully, I had an amazing team of midwives and consultants at the Chelsea and Westminster who took a great deal of care monitoring the pregnancy.’
The actress has gone through much difficulty when trying to conceive as she was diagnosed with with polycystic ovary syndrome when she was 21-years-old.
She told the Mirror: ‘They were aware how early the baby was coming, and said they didn’t have enough beds in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit’ pictured at
Early struggles: When Ada was born, she was on oxygen in an incubator and fed through a tube, she spent four weeks in neonatal intensive care as she grew stronger and developed the ability to breathe by herself (pictured with Ada and Elodie)
And seven years later, the doctors discovered she also had an irregular shaped uterus.
Daisy, whose waters broke at 32 weeks, said that during her birth the only thing she could think about was whether Ada was going to be okay, and admitted she couldn’t remember much about having a C-section at all.
Ada was delivered safely weighing just three pounds and spent four weeks in an incubator, building up the strength to breathe and feed for herself.
Daisy is also mother to her daughter Elodie.
