Denise van Outen has admitted she still feels guilty about having an elective caesarean. The TV star, who was speaking as a panellist on Loose Women, opened up about her decision, saying she was "so traumatised" by other people's birthing stories that she chose to have a C-section. Denise, 43, welcomed her daughter Betsy with ex-husband Lee Mead in 2010.
"When I got pregnant, I was so stressed," she said. "I hold my hands up, I went for an elective caesarean. My mum almost died giving birth and my sister had a terrible birth. My best friend had also just had a traumatic birth. There's this whole stigma thing about too posh to push. But I was so traumatised, I wasn't sleeping properly. You do still, to this day, feel like people are judging you."
© Photo: RexDenise said she feels as if people are judging her
Denise, who has been in a three-year relationship with her boyfriend Eddie Boxshall, also hinted that she is broody as she mused about having another baby. "Even now, if I were to fall pregnant again, I would want to have a natural birth because I still feel guilty," she said.
The TV star is the proud mum to seven-year-old Betsy, who she co-parents with her ex-husband Lee. Speaking exclusively to HELLO! Online last year, Denise opened up about the family dynamics, saying: "I'm very aware of the fact that I want to set a good example to Betsy and I think it's healthy for her to see that she's got two parents who really get on, have the same job, and we sort of work it out between us and juggle it between us."
© Photo: Getty ImagesDenise and her daughter Betsy pictured in 2014
She added: "We never really had to think about it too much. At the start we always just made it – we knew Betsy was the priority and as always will be friends." Of her daughter, Denise said: "She leads a very normal life. She knows when she's having her photograph taken but she's really just a normal kid growing up and having fun. It just so happens that both of her parents are in the public eye – and she understands what we do as a job."
