'Made in Chelsea' star Lucy Watson speaks about traumatic birth of son in which she feared they would both die

‘Made in Chelsea’ reality TV star Lucy Watson has said she is lucky to be alive after the “traumatic” birth of her son.

The television personality, aged 33, and her husband James Dunmore welcomed their son Willoughby James in hospital on March 2.

Watson and Dumore, who met on the TV series, shared the news of their son’s arrival by sharing a black and white image of them cradling the newborn in a hospital bed. The caption simply read “Here’s here”, alongside his birth date and a heart emoji.

But now, Watson has taken to her TikTok account to tell the truth of what happened during Willoughby’s birth. In the nine minute video, she spoke of what her labour, detailing the frightening ordeal that resulted in a “life or death situation”.

Speaking directly into the camera in the video, called “My birth story. So grateful baby boy is here safe and sound”, which was posted one month after Willoughby’s birth, she said it had been a “traumatic experience”.

She revealed that at a routine scan when she was 39 weeks pregnant she discovered that her baby boy had the chord around his neck and head. She also said that the chord around his neck for around three months, but she had been told that was quite common - however, having the chord around his head caused more concern for her private consultant, who advised she should be induced the next day.

When she went in to the hospital to be induced, she found that the chord had moved from around her son’s head, but she still decided to go ahead with being induced. But, the labour that followed as not straight-forward.

She continued: “The midwife checked me and his head had come out of my cervix that was like a mass of swelling, she was concerned by that because his head looked so swollen and sore.”

She went on: “He was going into my cervix like a brick wall. When she checked me in a few hours, it was the same situation. It got to the point where his heart rate was really high.

“I was exhausted, the alarm was going off in our room, you could tell everyone was really worried. They came in and said we need to get him out he’s not in a good way, he’s in distress. [The midwife said] this is a life or death situation and we need to get him out now. I was really worried about my son and I thought there was a chance we were going to lose him and I really worried for my own life as well.” Willoughby was born safely after an emergency caesarean section, and Watson went on to speak about what it was like when she was allowed to hold her baby son for the first time.

“They stitched me up. It’s an awkward thing you’re being stitched up and you can’t actually see them. But then they put [Willoughby] on my chest and then he calmed down. James and I were hysterically crying, just so relieved that he was okay.”

Watson and Dumore married in 2021 after a seven year relationship. They later announced their pregnancy in September 2023, describing it as a ‘miracle’ at the time.

As she announced her pregnancy, she also spoke futher about her struggles to conceive and urged her followers in the same position to investigate their infertility.

In another TikTok video, she said: “I thought I owed it to anyone going through struggles with fertility do a little video to acknowledge your pain. Sorry I am getting emotional, but I want to acknowledge everyone dealing with fertility issues. If this has been triggering for anyone then I can relate to that a lot.”

Watson is not the only ‘Made in Chelsea’ star to suffer with complications surrounding fertility, pregnancy and labour. Her co-star Louise Thompson has also been open about her own struggles.

She gave birth to son Leo-Hunter in November 2021, but she almost died during the birth. Thompson announced back in December 2021 that she had given birth to her first child five weeks previously on her official Instagram page, but told fans there had been “serious complications” during the birth and she had “danced with death twice”.

She said: “Unfortunately it wasn’t the easiest start for either of us. One ended up in NICU (Neonatal intensive care unit) and the other ended up in ICU (intensive care unit). In all honesty I never imagined that so many bad things could happen to me, but to dance with death twice brings a whole new view of the world - a stark reminder of how short and sacred life really is."

She said she had been in hospital ever since the birth, but had been discharged in time to spend Christmas at home with her family, and admitted “I am in a bit of a strange place mentally and physically and I might be for a while, but that’s just part of the me now and part of my recovery.”

Thompson is set to open up further about her difficult journey to motherhood in her new book ‘Lucky: Learning to live again’, which is due to be released in May. You can pre-order the book now on Amazon.