Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington has spoken candidly about her fears as she prepares to welcome another child after suffering two heartbreaking miscarriages.
The 36-year-old retired swimmer, who shares son Albie with husband Andy Parsons and daughter Summer from her previous marriage to Harry Needs, revealed last week that she is expecting again, but described her feelings as “cautiously overjoyed.”
Her journey to this pregnancy has been anything but easy. In August 2022, she endured a miscarriage that required emergency surgery, followed by another devastating loss in October 2023 when doctors discovered at her 20-week scan that there was “no heartbeat.”
Speaking to PA, Rebecca explained: “My little boy is four now, so it’s been a bit of a journey over the past four years, having two miscarriages, trying to conceive, and then the worry. I think you’re so focused on wanting another baby, and then when it happens there’s happiness but also so much anxiety, wondering if it’s going to be OK.”
She added that the support of family, friends, and the NHS has been “tremendous” this time around, helping her manage her emotions and health. “We cannot fault the care, and we’re just taking each day as it comes and not getting ahead of ourselves. I’m older now than with my other pregnancies, so it’s about resting and managing things in the best way I can.”
Rebecca explained why she chose to go public with her pregnancy news: “We’ve been so open and honest about our journey, and if something were to ever happen, we’d talk about it anyway. So why not have the support and understanding from people?”
Reflecting on her evolving relationship with her body, she admitted the hardest part of pregnancy is learning to “trust the process.” She described the heartbreak of looking pregnant after miscarriages, the frustration of unexplained fertility struggles, and the shift from viewing her body as a powerful tool in sport to recognising it as something that can both create life and let her down.
Rebecca shared her pregnancy announcement on Instagram on September 23, writing that it had been “an emotional and physical rollercoaster navigating the past 19 months of trying.”
Alongside preparing for her new arrival, the double Olympic gold medallist is also fronting Hyundai’s Rest Drives initiative, which lets families test the Kona Electric in real-life settings such as school runs and long baby naps.