Becoming a mom of two wasn’t easy for Princess Beatrice.
The Princess of York, 36, wrote an essay for British Vogue on Sunday where she opened up about her daughter Athena’s preterm birth in January.
“Nothing quite prepares you for the moment when you realise your baby is going to arrive early,” Beatrice wrote. “There’s so little control. Will she arrive healthy? Will there be complications? How will you juggle the rest of family life while trying to keep a tiny human safe and well?”
Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, who also share daughter Sienna, 3, welcomed Athena on January 22, weeks before her scheduled due date.
The mom of two shared that she had “an overwhelming fear of the unknown” at the time of Athena’s birth.
“I was very fortunate to be monitored closely by a medical team and I’m extremely aware of how lucky I am,” Beatrice said. “This is a driving force in me to do as much as possible to help where I can.”
She continued, “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.”
Beatrice said her second daughter “is now doing really well,” though she still has “no precise explanation” for the premature birth.
“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,” Beatrice wrote.
At the end of her essay, Beatrice said that her experience with Athena and her mom Sarah Ferguson’s skin and breast cancer diagnoses last year have inspired her to support research in women’s health.
“For me, nothing feels more vital than facilitating the necessary research into the health challenges that women face daily,” said Beatrice.
“My hope is that with more investment into medical research, my two daughters will not have to face these challenges when they grow up,” she added. “And even if they do, they’ll be doing it with the absolute best knowledge at their disposal.”
The royal family announced Athena’s birth in January with the first photo of the newborn taken by Beatrice’s husband.
Athena was 4 pounds and 5 ounces when she was born.
“The King and Queen, and other members of The Royal Family have all been informed and are delighted with the news,” the royal family’s message read. “Princess Beatrice and Mr Mapelli Mozzi would like to thank all the staff at the hospital for their wonderful care.”
Both of Beatrice’s daughter’s middle names are Elizabeth, as a nod to Beatrice’s late grandmother Queen Elizabeth II.
