In a frank new interview about parenthood, the Duchess of Cambridge says she delved into hypnobirthing to help her get through pregnancy and labour.
Kate Middleton opened up this weekend on the podcast “Happy Mum Happy Baby,” where she discussed hypnobirthing, mom guilt and trying to find happy moments with her three children.
Middleton told host Giovanna Fletcher that she explored hypnobirthing, after suffering through hyperemesis gravidarum, a pregnancy complication characterized by severe nausea and vomiting, weight loss and sometimes dehydration. She said realized she wanted to try and have more control over parts of her labour.
Listen to an excerpt:
“There’s levels to it, I’m not going to say William was standing there chanting sweet nothings at me,” said the 38-year-old. “It was something I wanted to do for myself, I saw the power of it with the deep breathing and the meditation that they teach you in hypnobirthing.”
The duchess was on the podcast to promote her new initiative, 5 Big Questions on the Under Fives, a national survey that aims to identify issues parents face in the early years of raising a child. It’s an issue that’s been a “huge passion” for Middleton since she got married.
She admitted that after learning about early child-care issues with experts and health-care professionals, she “definitely would have done things differently.”
Middleton also said, “Right in the early days meeting people who are struggling with addiction, homelessness, abuse and things like that, you really get moved by some of the challenges people are facing, and it’s really heartbreaking to hear.
“So much of those, really get traced back the earliest years of somebody’s life, and you hear that time and time again across the nation, across the world.”
Her own childhood was quite happy, she said, especially with parents and relatives who devoted lots of time to Middleton and her siblings. She said she has positive memories of talking walks, gardening and being out in nature.
It’s something the duchess is trying to instill with parenting her own kids — she said sometimes the best moments are as simple as watching a fire with them during a rainy day.
“That’s what I try to do with my children now because it totally strips away all the complications, all the pressures.”
Despite being a high-profile figure, Middleton says she’s found that some issues with motherhood are universal. She told Fletcher that even the morning before the podcast, she felt guilty about not being able to drop off Prince George to school.
Even the Duchess of Cambridge is working on a work-life balance.
“I think anyone who doesn’t is actually lying,” she said.
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