Princess Beatrice gave birth to her second daughter, Athena Elizabeth Rose Mapelli Mozzi, in January. Little Athena was born premature by a few weeks. A month before the birth, sources indicated that Beatrice and Edo changed their Christmas plans because of Beatrice’s pregnancy and some maternal issues. Sources declined to speak about what was going on, but now Beatrice is ready to discuss some of what happened. She wrote a piece for British Vogue about her pregnancy, giving birth to a premie and what she’s learned. She’s also promoting her new patronage, Borne, and a “new baby shower collection for her brand Mrs Alice, the proceeds of which will benefit Borne.” Some highlights from Bea’s essay:

Giving birth to her premie: “My second daughter, Athena Elizabeth Rose, was born on 22 January. I learnt so much from this pregnancy journey – the latter stages of which I spent with all of these questions spinning through my mind. 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.

Too little focus on women’s health: “In many ways, for the longest time, women’s health has been left off the agenda. You can try and plan as much as possible with pregnancy, but sometimes your body – or your baby – has other ideas, which in some cases can lead to a preterm birth. Thankfully, with ever evolving technology in the hands of knowledgeable doctors, midwives and nurses, more progress is being made every day towards understanding the unique complications that can accompany a preterm pregnancy.

She’s fortunate: “I was very fortunate to be monitored closely by a medical team and I’m extremely aware of how lucky I am. This is a driving force in me to do as much as possible to help where I can. Athena arrived healthy, a few weeks before her due date. She was so tiny it took more than a few weeks for the tears of relief to dry and for life with our healthy baby to feel real. Her feet were so small – almost the same size as the paws on one of my older daughter’s soft bunnies. 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.

Her new patronage: I am now a patron of Borne, a very personal appointment that – as with lots of the organisations I support – I take great pride in. They say a problem shared is a problem halved, and as with my work around dyslexia, I hope to do as much as possible to support others like me….It is in that spirit of togetherness that I have teamed up with one of my oldest friends, Alice Naylor-Leyland, to create a new baby shower collection for her brand Mrs Alice, the proceeds of which will benefit Borne. Mrs Alice is all about bringing people together around a table to encourage joyful moments, and this collection came about after long, late-night discussions around fertility, surrogacy, pregnancy and motherhood. Our hope is that it will inspire a conversation around women’s health.

The vital need for more resources in women’s healthcare: Maybe it’s to do with getting a little older, and hopefully a little wiser – or maybe it’s something to do with my mother’s breast and skin cancer diagnosis last year – but for me, nothing feels more vital than facilitating the necessary research into the health challenges that women face daily. My hope is that with more investment into medical research, and the dedication of healthcare professionals like Professor Johnson, my two daughters will not have to face these challenges when they grow up. And even if they do, they’ll be doing it with the absolute best knowledge at their disposal.

[From British Vogue]

I’m a little bit surprised Beatrice made several factual statements about the undervaluing and underfunding of women’s healthcare. That’s true in America, it’s true in the UK, it’s true in Europe and beyond. All around the world, women’s healthcare and maternal healthcare are treated as afterthoughts or fields which lack importance. As for Athena only being a few weeks premature…is that correct? I thought Athena was a few months premature from the way people were talking. Anyway, I’m glad Beatrice is now working with this new patronage and that she’s helped design a baby-shower collection. I will avoid making any comparisons in any direction.

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