Princess Beatrice and husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi welcomed their second daughter, Athena, on Jan. 22. In a new essay for Vogue U.K., Beatrice has opened up about the fear and worry she experienced after learning her baby would be born preterm.
"Nothing quite prepares you for the moment when you realize your baby is going to arrive early," the princess explained in her essay. "There's so little control." Princess Beatrice detailed the "uncertainty" she felt while waiting for her daughter to be born, despite knowing the medical staff would be "doing everything they can to ensure she makes it through those challenging first few days." She continued, "The uncertainty leaves you with an overwhelming fear of the unknown."
As a member of the Royal Family, Princess Beatrice has access to incredible resources, but her second pregnancy made her realize how much expectant mothers are forced to deal with. "It doesn't matter who you are or where you've come from, so many elements of pregnancy are universal," she wrote. "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." Beatrice continued, "Like countless other expectant moms, 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?'"
Reflecting on her daughter's birth, Beatrice wrote, "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."
As a result of what she went through, Princess Beatrice hopes to help other people experiencing challenges during their pregnancies. "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 explained.
Beatrice shares two daughters—Sienna and Athena—with husband Mapelli Mozzi, whom has one son, Wolfie, from a previous relationship.
