Entertainment
The Apprentice’s Michelle Dewberry says ‘joy of pregnancy’ has been taken away from mums in pandemic
The Apprentice star Michelle Dewberry has been reflecting the challenges that come with being pregnant in a pandemic, like being forced to spend a month in hospital ‘without a single visitor’.
Michelle, 40, welcomed her first child in July – a baby boy who was born prematurely at 31 weeks.
He spent six weeks in intensive care before being allowed to return home and now her son is seven months old, Michelle has opened up about her experience of welcoming a child amid coronavirus.
Sharing a series of honest tweets, the former TV star said she felt ‘sad’ for those mums that have had a baby during the pandemic, as ‘so much of the joy of pregnancy’ has been taken away from them.
Speaking from her own experience, she wrote: ‘#PregnantInAPandemic My baby is now 7 months: He spent 6 weeks in intensive care without both parents by his side. He hasn’t met lots of his family.
‘He’s barely interacted with another baby. 99.9% of friends haven’t met him. I have to attend his hospital appts alone.’
Michelle continued: ‘I feel sad for people who’ve had their baby during Covid. So much of the “joy” of pregnancy / new baby etc has been taken from us. Many mums will be returning back from #maternityleave soon, having never had a chance to enjoy a full experience with their bubba #lockdownbaby.
Michelle referenced the fact that she was forced to spend a month alone in hospital. Her waters broke three months early, causing her to be hospitalised and monitored for four weeks and her son was later delivered via an emergency c-section.
She continued: ‘Many of us mums will have had challenges around the pregnancy/birth which due to Covid, we were forced to face alone (I was in hospital for a month without a single visitor).
‘Lockdown was intended to prevent people dying. In doing so, it prevented so many more from living.’
Last month, Michelle was seen marking her son’s six-month milestone and shared her hopes of lockdown restrictions easing soon.
She wrote: ‘It’s been a challenging 6months, with a very difficult start. Then we’ve had reflux/colic and CMPA just to make it all that little bit harder. But wow what a precious little boy he is to us.
‘Every day he seems to learn something new and develop his character that little bit more, and what a character he has. He definitely knows his own mind and is becoming a very strong-willed little boy, that’s for sure 😂.’
Michelle added: ‘Can’t wait for the world to open up more, so that our adventures can truly begin…’
She shares her baby boy with partner Simon Jordan, who formerly owned Crystal Palace. Michelle is best known for winning the second series of The Apprentice in 2006.
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