Sophie Ellis-Bextor Speaks About The Trauma Of Having Premature Babies

Two of her sons were born early

Singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor has spoken of her experience in having two babies born prematurely.

When the Chiswick-based pop star gave birth to her first son Sonny, he was 32 weeks and weighed 3 lbs 8 oz.

A recent image of Sophie, at the Bedford Park Festival

Five years later, she and her husband experienced the same trauma with their second son Kit, who was born at 31 weeks. Sonny, now a healthy 13-year-old, and Kit, eight, spent their first weeks in a neonatal intensive care unit at Chelsea & Westminster hospital.

Sophie had not been feeling well during her first pregnancy. She was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia which can lead to serious complications for both mother and baby if it’s not monitored and treated. Early signs include high blood pressure (hypertension) and protein in the urine (proteinuria) and should be picked up during routine antenatal appointments. In her case she developed further symptoms, including swelling of the feet and fluid retention, headaches and other pains.

The condition affects about 42,000 women in Britain each year and in severe cases can lead to stillbirth or maternal death.

At present there is no effective way of predicting who will develop the condition. The only way of treating it is to deliver the baby via caesarean. “I was diagnosed on the Monday and had Sonny on the Friday – it was all a bit of a shock,” Sophie recalls.

“I’d had experience of that since my sister Martha was born 10 weeks early when I was 11,” she explains. “So I’d actually seen a really tiny baby before.” Sonny stayed in the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for five weeks.

“They have an absolutely amazing neonatal unit there and great care so that’s where I’ve had all my babies,” she says. And although her little boy was in expert hands, it was very far from the introduction to parenthood that she had imagined. “As parents it’s easy to feel a bit discombobulated because there’s only so much you can do,” she says. “We wanted to get involved as much as possible, changing nappies and having a cuddle.

Sophie has now become ambassador for the new Pampers Preemie Protection range of nappies developed with neonatal intensive-care nurses and suitable for babies weighing as little as 1lb 8oz.

A recent survey showed that 99 per cent of neonatal nurses believe that using standard newborn nappies with a wide core can push premature babies’ legs apart and make it harder for them to rest comfortably.

Sophie and her husband now have four children. She has been the face of cosmetics brand Rimmel, as well as a busy mum, juggling the demands of her family, recording career, running club nights with her husband and touring in places ranging from Russia to Indonesia. She was also a leading contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.

She is the daughter of well-known actress and tv presenter, now author, Janet Ellis.

July 12, 2017