Olivia Bowen ‘nearly died’ after traumatic birth, losing litres of blood.

Olivia Bowen nearly died while giving birth to her second child with husband Alex, after losing a huge amount of blood.

The Love Island stars, who are already parents to their three-year-old son Abel, took to Instagram on Monday to announce they had welcomed a baby girl named Siena Grace. 

Olivia, 31, and Alex, 34, gushed that they are ‘bursting with love’ as they shared adorable snaps as a family of four.

However, the couple also hinted that the birth hadn’t been smooth sailing, as they added that it ‘wasn’t an easy ride’.

Now a source close to the pair has revealed that Olivia had a very close call during the birth, necessitating an emergency C-section and a blood transfusion.

They told Daily Mail: ‘Olivia could have died during birth if it wasn’t for the incredible team at her local hospital.

‘She lost nearly three litres of blood needing an urgent blood transfusion and emergency c-section.’

Thankfully, Olivia is said to be recovering well after the scary ordeal and looked on cloud nine as she cradled baby Siena in her arms for the heartwarming family photos.

The snaps saw her beaming with joy at Alex, while Abel sweetly hugged his new sister as the foursome cuddled up in bed together.

While another shot showed a personalised knitted cardigan, which had Siena Grace’s name embroidered onto it along with a selection of flowers. 

Sharing their joyous news with fans, Olivia wrote: ‘I can’t even find the words other than to say our beautiful girl Siena Grace is here, and we are all bursting with love.

‘It wasn’t an easy ride but every second worth it a thousand times over. I love my babies.’

Both Olivia’s pregnancy and difficult birthing experience will be covered in the couple’s upcoming ITV2 reality series, set to air later this year.

Earlier this month it was announced that the broadcaster had commissioned a brand-new six-part reality series following the couple as they grew their young family from three to four.

Olivia & Alex: Parenthood will offer intimate access into their journey and document the emotional aftermath of their tragic experience of vanishing twin syndrome.

The couple revealed in March that they had been expecting twins, but sadly lost one of their babies eight weeks into the pregnancy.

Olivia broke down in tears on Loose Women as she recalled her excitement at finding out they were having twins just before Christmas, when they attended an early six week scan. 

She said: ‘We had that two week period we were looking at cars, looking at car seats, planning bedrooms… and something happened called vanishing twin syndrome.’ 

She explained: ‘One of the babies just basically didn’t have a heartbeat but I’d had no symptoms, no pain, no bleeding to tell me that was what we were walking into. We were floored, we were expecting to have these two little babies.’

Vanishing twin syndrome occurs when one twin passes away in the womb and ‘vanishes’ and studies suggest happens in roughly 36% of twin pregnancies. 

Olivia heartbreakingly revealed that ‘the one beautiful part of it’ is that the babies do ‘absorb back into your body’ and that’s what the couple have been ‘holding onto’.

The reality star continued: ‘We were floored but talking about it helps, every little part is becoming easier by speaking to other women. 

‘I haven’t seen many men talk about it and we want to change that perception of not being able to talk about miscarriage openly. 

‘The baby had completely absorbed into my body at 14 weeks, just completely gone which is tremendously sad knowing they’re still in there.

‘I am so lucky to have experienced that moment of possibly having twins, it’s something that not everyone gets to feel so even having those two little babies at that time.’

Alex then emotionally chimed in with: ‘I built this scenario up in my mind, I was thinking of the future. 

‘I thought it was 100% happening and I had come to terms with it. I never really had a big family, I’m an only child and have no contact with my dad so it was an amazing thing for me.’

Olivia and Alex met on season two of the popular ITV dating show in 2016, finishing as runners up, and have become one of the show’s biggest success stories.

Olivia announced they were expecting baby number two in February with a heartwarming video of the pregnancy so far and wrote in the caption: ‘A moment, a love – baby no2 – we’re waiting for you.’

The sweet montage showed the moment the couple found out they were pregnant and featured a clip of Abel kissing his mother’s stomach and wearing a shirt that reads ‘big brother’. 

Olivia and Alex, formerly a sales executive and scaffolder respectively, soared to fame in 2016 when they appeared on the ITV2 reality show, where she was an original star and he, a late and extremely popular entrant. 

After leaving the villa, their romance soon went from strength to strength and Alex popped the question in New York in December 2016. 

They tied the knot at an idyllic Essex ceremony in September 2018 and went onto become parents with the birth of Abel in June 2022.

After leaving the show, the couple earned thousands through brand deals and even had their own TV show, Olivia and Alex Said Yes, on TLC in 2018. 

Following the birth of her first child, Olivia admitted that she ‘really really struggled’ with her postpartum figure so much so that she ‘hated’ herself ‘beyond belief’.

In a candid chat with Giovanna Fletcher on her Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast in November, Olivia told how she ‘knew’ she’d struggle to deal with the look of her body after giving birth, with the star constantly comparing herself to other new mums.

Discussing her post-pregnancy figure, she said: ‘So I knew when I got pregnant that was something that I would just lose my s**t over after. I really… I still struggle with it.

‘But after I hated myself like beyond belief. Like really, really struggled with my body image. Pregnant – loved, loved, loved it. And then the minute, that minute Abel was born and I was looking at myself in a completely different light, which makes no sense.

‘The fact that you can look at yourself when you’re pregnant and absolutely love the way you look and think, ‘wow, I’m incredible. I’m carrying this baby’. But then after it was like I was comparing myself to other girls that were in the public eye, that had had kids around the same time as me. 

‘And I was looking at them thinking, ‘oh my God, you look amazing’ and not thinking about myself and thinking, ‘I need to bounce back’.’

After convincing herself that she didn’t look great in comparison to others, Olivia embarked on a gruelling exercise routine – which would prove to have a negative effect on her body.

She explained: ‘I ended up actually really injuring myself because I had a complicated birth. I started running too early because I was so conscious of what I looked like.

‘I ended up breaking my stitches. I ended up… I horse rode too early because I wanted to get fit again, and I caused myself a lot of damage.

‘Not going into too much detail, but I ended up, like, actually really hurting myself from wanting to bounce back.’

But despite causing herself physical pain through her actions, the influencer confessed that she would probably still do the same thing again if they had another child.

She said: ‘It was like… and even now, I think I still wouldn’t have done it differently. Really, the first time around… The second… If I got pregnant again, I know to look after myself, but I know for a fact I would have done that again and again and again.

‘Like that wouldn’t have changed. But I guess it is, you know, my job is on social media. And to see all these girls look so incredible and think that you don’t look like that.

‘It was such a hard thing. And because I’d always had such great body confidence and I loved my body, that was just someone I didn’t really recognize and I had no respect for. And it’s, it’s so sad.’

While Olivia struggled with her body image, she also faced a battle with postnatal depression.

Opening up to Giovanna on not feeling like a mother when Abel was born, she said: ‘I remember writing in my notes, actually, I think he was about three months old, and I remember writing in my notes that I didn’t want to be looked at as a mum.

‘I was like, I’m not a mum, I don’t feel like a mum. I have a baby and I love my baby, but I do not want anyone to look at me or call me mum. I didn’t like it when people referred to me as mum. I hated it.’

After Giovanna suggested it was due to her feeling ‘lost’ amid the traumatic birth, Olivia explained: ‘I think it is like the lost feeling afterwards. Like I think that postnatal is just so, so common and we don’t even realize it. And I really struggled after, like anxiety wise, I was really depressive.

‘And I do think I was just shunning the image of being a mum because I just so wasn’t ready to give up who I was before, and I felt like I’d lost my whole identity. I had no clue who I was.

‘I remember talking to my friends and being like, “I literally don’t know who I am.” Like, I could not tell you one thing about myself and to lose yourself like that deeply.

‘And then I think I’ve always – because I didn’t want kids – I always looked at being a mum as not a bad thing, but just something that was never me.’

If you have been affected by this story, you can seek advice at www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk or www.tommys.org or by calling 01924 200 799