VICTORIA Derbyshire has revealed she suffered a miscarriage on a plane but carried on working.
Broadcaster Victoria, 56, described the heartbreaking event as “very upsetting”, confessing that it took her five years before she could talk about it.
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The Newsnight presenter, who is married to producer Mark Sandell, is the mother of sons Oliver, 20, and Joe, 17, but revealed she had been pregnant once before.
She shared on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast that they think fondly about the idea of having had a sister.
Victoria told host Giovanna Fletcher: “We had a miscarriage first, that was very upsetting.
“I’m a talker, I talk about everything. I’m very open. Maybe it’s partly because of the way I was brought up. We talked to my mum about all the c**p that was going on.”
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“That was one thing I couldn’t talk about for about five years; it was so odd, I could not speak about it.”
Describing the traumatic moment, she said: “I actually had the miscarriage on a plane. I was so practical and pragmatic.”
“I was like, ‘Well this is happening now and I’m going to work,’ and I just carried on. It’s absolutely bizarre.”
Victoria has worked on television news and political programmes including the BBC News Channel, Watchdog, Newsnight and Panorama.
Throughout her career, she has been a vocal campaigner against domestic abuse.
Before her father Anthony’s death in 2020, the TV star bravely recounted the horrific trauma she suffered at his hands.
Victoria alleged that he threw “scalding soup” over her as a child and put his hands around her throat – claims he died.
Also in 2020, she was praised when she hosted BBC News while having the domestic abuse helpline on her hand.
She told the newspaper telling her story “doesn’t bring up trauma” and said domestic abuse can happen to anyone.
“And it’s nothing to do with class or your job or money. If it helps to talk about it, then absolutely, I’ll talk.”
The interview was granted to newspaper to raise awareness of a new campaign called Brick By Brick that aims to raise £300,000 for a new type of Refuge to help those fleeing domestic violence.
While on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2020, Victoria also candidly opened up about her gruelling cancer battle.
During an episode of the popular show, Victoria and EastEnders star Jessica Plummer had a “frank and honest” conversation about her devastating cancer diagnosis.
Victoria also opened up about the shocking side effect of her diagnosis – that she and her husband “could barely speak” to each other.
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She told Jessica: “We are talkers, we are open, we are you know, and we just had no words because honestly all I was thinking was I’m going to die.
“Seriously, I’m going to die. And then, I thought I’m not going to see my boys grow up, I’m not going to grow old with Mark, I mean it was just, I just thought my luck’s run out, you know.”
What is miscarriage and why do pregnancies fail?
MISCARRIAGE is generally the death of an unborn baby in the first 24 weeks – approximately six months – of pregnancy.
Miscarriages may not be spoken about a lot but they are very common. Baby loss charity Tommy’s estimates there are at least 250,000 per year in the UK and that one in every five pregnancies ends in miscarriage.
It may not be clear why a miscarriage happens but they are rarely caused by anything done by the mother or father. Usually the embryo has a random genetic defect that means it cannot develop properly.
Most women can go on to successfully have healthy babies in the future.
The NHS says most miscarriages cannot be prevented but avoiding smoking, alcohol and drugs while pregnant can reduce the risk.
Some of the other most common reasons for a pregnancy to fail in the first 24 weeks are ectopic pregnancy and molar pregnancy.
Ectopic pregnancy is where a fertilised egg implants somewhere outside of the womb, usually in a fallopian tube. It cannot survive and grow there so either dies naturally or must be terminated.
Molar pregnancy is rarer but happens when a fertilised egg and/or placenta does not develop properly at the start of a pregnancy. There is no single reason why it happens and cannot be prevented, though it may be more common in very young or old mothers.
A baby who dies after 24 weeks is considered a stillbirth.
Source: NHS
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