Lorraine Kelly’s daughter Rosie has given a candid recount of her birth experience after welcoming her first child, baby girl Billie Kelly Smith-White, over a year ago. Rosie, who’s daughter was delivered in a planned cesarean birth, shared behind-the-scenes details and intimate photos from hospital – including her and her fiancé, Steve White’s first photo taken as a new family of three.
“It can feel like there’s so much clickbait and negative language used to describe the birthing experience that I don’t think is reassuring for women who are either pregnant or thinking about having a baby,” she captioned the candid post. “We all know that every birth is different and I am so grateful that mine ended with me and Billie well and happy.”
“With the music, asking for what you need, to choosing the whole birth experience, the one thing I’ll say is don’t do what you think you should do, do what works for you,” Rosie wrote on the wholesome first photo of her and her fiancé Steve White with their baby girl hugged against her chest, which she put as the last slide of the post.
Rosie began her post with a mirror selfie taken the morning of, showing off her fresh blow dried hair. After going to hospital, Rosie said she walked into the theatre and sat on the bed for an epidural, dressed in a hospital gown. “I think people in actual labour maybe just get on with it but I was fully aware of everything going on,” she recalled.
The journalist said she was “super calm all day” up until she had to lie down and “had a big cry”. She recalled a thoughtful moment from her partner: “Steve changed our calm playlist we made to my ’70s disco one that perked me up,” she wrote, adding that the nurses were dancing and it was “such a lovely atmosphere”.
She then went into detail about the birth itself, including being administered drugs after voicing to the anaesthetist that she had felt sick before Billie was delivered. “So glad I spoke up for myself so I could enjoy the moment,” she said.
She continued: “One thing I never expected was when they break your waters and you hear a gush of liquid.”
The couple welcomed Billie in August 2024. Rosie opened up about her birth exclusively for the first time to HELLO! magazine. She had a planned Caesarean birth after discovering she was suffering from a condition called placenta previa, which is when the placenta partially or completely covers the cervix.
Special meaning behind daughter’s name
In an exclusive chat with HELLO!, Rosie revealed her daughter’s name was a special tribute to her mum, ITV broadcaster, Lorraine. Billie’s surname is a combination of both her parents’ surnames, with Kelly as a special tribute to Lorraine.
“We wanted to do Smith-White because I’m the last Smith – my dad’s siblings didn’t have any children and neither did my mum’s,” she told us.
Lorraine and Steve’s support
Rosie also told us about her mother’s role in baby Billie’s life. “She keeps thinking she’s an interference but I don’t know what I would do without her,” Rosie said of Lorraine.
She also opened up in the interview about how both her mum and Steve had been a support as she dealt with post-partum anxiety.
© Getty“There’s only so much you can do to support; you can be reassuring and kind but it’s one of those things where you are a spare part, so all I can do is help as much as I can,” Steve said of being there for his partner.
The couple got engaged in the summer of 2023 and shared the news publicly in June 2024. “We would like to get married when Billie can walk and be a flower girl so maybe 2026,” Rosie revealed to us.
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