Princess Beatrice opens up about premature birth of her daughter

Princess Beatrice has opened up about the premature birth of her second daughter, Athena.

In a piece written for British Vogue, the Princess revealed her worry after finding out her daughter was most likely going to be born preterm.

“Following routine scans we became aware our precious cargo needed close monitoring, and understood we needed to prepare for an early arrival. What I learnt in this process has been humbling: understanding so much more about our remarkable human bodies, but also, more than anything, what we don’t know,” she said.

The Princess also thanked her doctors, midwives, nurses and modern technology for handling everything so smoothly.

Even though she’s royal, she mentions that pregnancy has universal elements that all women can relate to: “It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’ve come from, so many elements of pregnancy are universal. I’ve had a life that is out of the ordinary, but my joys and fears in pregnancy and motherhood are the same as those experienced by millions of other women around the world. Like countless other expectant mums, I lay awake in the weeks leading up to birth, trying to monitor each movement of the baby in my tummy and asking myself a thousand times: ‘What if this happens, or what if that happens?'”

Princess Beatrice also shared an update on little Athena, saying that she is doing well.

“I’m extremely pleased to let you know Athena is now doing really well, I have a few more answers as to what happened, but still no precise explanation. Looking back over those months of sheer worry, I am filled with a sense of determination that more can be done to help others find answers to those questions around the complications that can lead to preterm birth – questions that defined my days (and nights) during pregnancy,” she wrote.

The royal is also teaming up with Alice Naylor-Leyland, one of her oldest friends, to create a baby shower collection for her brand Mrs Alice. The proceeds will benefit Borne – a medical research charity focusing on premature births.