When Pregnancy isn't quite what you imagined: Royal Style

Friday 7th of December 2012 | Category: Pregnancy News | Written by: Siobhan Thomas

A very public start

I was delighted to hear that the Duchess of Cambridge is expecting her first baby. It will be something to celebrate for the Royal Family and for the country as a whole. More importantly, it is fantastic news for them as a couple.

They face a long road ahead of relentless media observation and public scrutiny which is only likely to intensify once the baby is born. Unfortunately the relationship between this pregnancy and the media has got off to a dreadful start, they were forced to announce their pregnancy early because they knew they could not keep her stay in hospital a secret. Then they were subjected to the unforgivable invasion of their privacy when an Australian radio station made a hoax call to the hospital and managed to get through to her private nurse.

Not quite the announcement you intended?

Many of us can empathise with the disappointment of having your pregnancy secrets spilled by friends or colleagues, or guessed by others before we have been able to tell them. Nobody wants to announce their good news to a room full of 'Yeah we know' replies. What's more, most of us like to wait until we're out of the first trimester, so I imagine having your pregnancy announced for you when you're still in the early days and you're feeling extremely ill must be quite an anti-climax.

A complicated pregnancy

Most of us don't expect problems in our pregnancies, particularly first time around. We are often fairly unaware of different pregnancy illnesses and risks until they affect either ourselves or someone close to us. Most people manage to continue their normal lives throughout their pregnancy, and I know from experience how frustrating and upsetting it is when a pregnancy complication prevents you from being physically active. Kate's condition hyperemesis gravidarum is one which typically lasts well into the second trimester of pregnancy. Of course she will receive the best care possible and she is lucky in that sense to be in such a privileged position. But this is no doubt at odds to the vision of pregnancy she held before now.

The most famous pregnancy in the world

In addition to these unexpected difficulties which Kate is having to come to terms with, she has lots more to contend with which she will already be expecting. This is going to be the most watched bump in the world. Every day you can find several (so called) articles in the tabloids relating to a pregnant celebrity: endless pictures of a pregnant woman, a journalist's inaccurate judgement on how well they appear to be coping and then a pathetic article covering what smoothie she has been drinking that morning. If a pregnant Fearne Cotton can make the papers almost daily then Kate knows that her picture will be in high demand.

What's more the speculation will be relentless, is it a boy or a girl? Might it be twins given that hyperemesis gravidarum is more common in multiple pregnancies? Now I found other people's guessing games a bit grating when I was pregnant, so dealing with it in the papers and on the television isn't something I envy. I got frustrated with other people's opinions on baby names, but at least my home town pub wasn't running a book on what the name might be like they are in Bucklebury!

Kate seems to have coped well with being in the world's spotlight so far, it's unlikely that she can enjoy this pregnancy in any 'normal' fashion. However, I hope that she manages to get better quickly so that she can be strong enough to rise above the pressures of the permanent media frenzy that will be more interested in her now than ever before.