Meghan Markle has just opened up about motherhood in a whole new way.
In a surprisingly vulnerable moment during the premiere episode of her new podcast Confessions of a Female Founder, Meghan shared her experience with a rare health crisis that few knew about until now. The Duchess of Sussex revealed her experience with postpartum preeclampsia — a serious medical condition that she said threatened her life after giving birth.
The podcast, which launched Tuesday, featured Meghan in conversation with Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, who shockingly discovered they shared the same dangerous postpartum complication.
“We both had very similar experiences — though we didn’t know each other at the time — with post-partum, and we both had pre-eclampsia. Post-partum pre-eclampsia,” Meghan shared during their intimate conversation.
“It’s so rare and so scary,” she continued, providing a glimpse into her private struggles. “And you’re still trying to juggle all of these things, and the world doesn’t know what’s happening quietly. And in the quiet, you’re still trying to show up for people — mostly for your children — but those things are huge medical scares.”
The condition, which involves dangerously high blood pressure and excess protein in urine shortly after childbirth, can lead to seizures and other life-threatening complications if left untreated.
Whitney emphasised the severity of their shared experience, stating bluntly: “I mean life or death, truly.”
Meghan Markle, Prince Harry and ArchieImage: Getty.
The 43-year-old Duchess, mother to Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3, did not specify which birth resulted in the condition, but the revelation provides new context to her royal experience.
In a particularly poignant moment, Whitney recalled watching Meghan’s public appearance with newborn Archie, unaware of the health crisis potentially unfolding.
“I’ll never forget the image of you after you delivered Archie, and the whole world was waiting for his debut,” Wolfe Herd said. “I was either just becoming or about to become a new mum, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, how is this woman doing this? How is this woman putting on heels and going and debuting a child in this, you know, beautiful outfit in front of the entire world?'”
Meghan Markle, Prince Harry and ArchieI
“I could barely face a doorbell delivery for takeout food in a robe,” she added, as Meghan laughed.
The new podcast marks Meghan’s return to audio storytelling following her previous podcast Archetypes with Spotify. To promote the new venture, Meghan shared childhood photos on Instagram, including one of herself selling cookies, writing: “Being an entrepreneur can start young. (By the way, all these years later and I’m still selling cookies!)”
This isn’t Meghan’s first time speaking candidly about maternal health challenges. In 2020, she wrote a deeply personal New York Times piece detailing her experience with miscarriage, continuing her advocacy for women’s health issues.
