Olympian Rebecca Adlington reflects on ‘devastating’ miscarriage
Rebecca Adlington has opened up about suffering a miscarriage last summer.
The Olympic swimmer revealed she ‘felt responsible’ for her miscarriage even though she knew it wasn’t really her fault.
Reflecting back on the heartbreaking time, Rebecca spoke about her husband, Andy Parsons, and the impact the miscarriage had on him and their marriage.
Speaking to OK!, the 34-year-old admitted, “Even back in March, he [Andy] was like, ‘We would be having a baby right now’. But I don’t look back. I don’t like being one of those ‘what if’ people, as it clearly wasn’t meant to be. But Andy deals with things differently”.
“It’s about sharing that emotion with him and making sure we’re all OK. People only asked if I was OK, not Andy, so I think it’s really critical to acknowledge each other”.
“It definitely helped bring us closer because he was emotionally devastated by it too. Not just me”.
Rebecca then spoke about her daughter Summer seeing her upset a lot last summer, revealing, “Summer saw me cry quite a bit and asked why I was upset, but I didn’t divulge too much. I just said, ‘Mummy has been ill and we’re trying to process everything’. I’ll explain to her when she gets older”.
The swimming champion later explained how she ‘felt responsible’ for the pregnancy loss and spoke about the pressure she faced.
“I keep thinking about the pressure my body has been under to keep this little one, safe and sound and alive”.
“I felt really responsible for the miscarriage, even though it wasn’t my fault. I remember speaking to the doctors and they said there was nothing I could have done to prevent what happened”.
Adlington continued, “But you’ve got all this pressure to protect something – this delicate being, this precious, special, incredible baby – for nine months. And it just seemed crazy because I’ve done it twice before and been absolutely fine”.
It was August of last year when Rebecca was told the tragic news that her baby had no heartbeat during her 12 week scan.
Rebecca, who is mum to eight-year-old Summer and two-year-old Albie, battled with sepsis, a kidney infection and a high fever following her miscarriage.
