Neighbours star Madeleine West reveals she feels like a 'smashed vase' as she details life with newborn after welcoming seventh child at age 47

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

Madeleine West welcomed her seventh child last month.
The 47-year-old is adjusting to life with a newborn, telling The Sunday Project this weekend that while she is looking well on the outside, it's a different story behind the scenes.
'It's all smoke and mirrors. I'm just a smashed vase that someone has wrapped up with gaffa tape' she joked.
'Don't put flowers and water in me as it will leak straight back out.'
The Neighbours actress continued: 'I'm on auto pilot. I'm deep in the delirium.
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'At 3am I got up for a glass of water and decided it was time to scrub out the fish tank and bake a cake, which is what I did.'
Madeleine was on the show to promote her partnership with the Federal Police, which has seen her produce It's Never Too Early, a guide book to keeping kids safe.
'This is so personal for me. It's things that I think most parents would never have considered. Asking yourself really simple but ultimately important questions, like, who will I allow to change my baby's nappy?' she explained.
'If I'm letting someone babysit, who else will have access to that child? Perfect example. If you let a good friend babysit, are they dating someone you don't know well? If he comes over to visit, they get up to answer the phone, am I comfortable with that person having unsupervised time with my child?
'If I look at babysitting, will there be other children in the house who have access to my child? If I'm looking at daycare centres, how can I find one that's government endorsed where everyone's been certified so I know my child is safe?
'Questions that when we're in the thick of early parenting, and we're exhausted, and on the cusp of delirium, it is hard to know the day of the week, let alone important decisions of how to best secure safety.'
Madeleine announced the arrival of her seventh child in April, sharing a glimpse at her newborn in an Instagram post and revealing the bub was in excellent health.
Alongside a truncated image of the child, she star wrote: 'Earthside at last… and utterly perfect'.
The Australian actress did not reveal the sex or name of her new arrival at the time.
It comes after Madeleine opened up about her seventh pregnancy at the age of 47.
The star already shares five daughters and one son with her ex-partner, celebrity chef Shannon Bennett.
In a preview for an interview on 60 Minutes, West said she is not letting naysayers get to her and is determined to keep 'dancing to the beat of my own drum'.
She said many people were shocked to learn she was pregnant with yet another child at her age, but she was also 'surprised' by the sheer amount of support she received.
'There was a lot of shock, naturally. And then, "Are you sure? You're at this point in your life. Your career is blossoming. You've got all these kids,"' West told host Tara Brown.
'But I am surprised by so many people who have reached out saying, "I've done what you're doing and I felt so alone. I felt like everyone would see me at the playground and they would think I'm grandma."'
When asked if she had ever been called a 'grandma at the playground', the actress responded: 'Oh yeah, naturally. But my argument has always been I've always danced to the beat of my own drum.
'I've always done things a little bit different. A little bit outside the norm.'
West revealed the response she received from her friends after she announced her pregnancy in January.
The TV star—who shares Phoenix, 19, Hendrix, 16, Xascha, 14, Xanthe, 12, and twins Xalia and Margaux, 10, with Shannon, 49 - said her pals' initial reaction to her pregnancy news was surprise.
'When I first reached out to my circle and revealed the big news, there was certainly a look. A bit of a stunned mullet, I would say,' she shared.
However, she added the shocked expression was soon followed by 'wow' as her friends asked if she was going to 'keep' the baby.
The controversial question also opened up a conversation about 'geriatric pregnancies' and the risks which come with them, which she expanded on in her interview with Stellar Magazine.
'I strive to not see motherhood as a limitation on my capacities,' she told the publication, but rather something that 'adds to it exponentially'.
She went on to say while falling pregnant certainly wasn't something she was expecting, it was a welcome surprise nonetheless.
'I feel like this little person has come along at the best possible time when I'm so very ready,' she said.
West went on to say she now has 'more time, wisdom and experience' when it comes to parenting.
Reflecting on what is often coined as a 'geriatric pregnancy' she expressed her frustration with the world's lack of conversations around later pregnancy.
West said it's not something 'society discusses at large' despite 'the very real fact that the rate of women having babies in their 40s is increasing'.
Back in January, West announced she was pregnant with her seventh child a decade on from her most recent birth.
She revealed the surprising news in an Instagram post.
In the photo, she flaunted her growing baby bump in a tight-fitting tank top which was lifted to reveal her bare tummy.
'WHOOPS!' she captioned her post. 'Thought it was #perimenopause. I thought WRONG! It's not too much Christmas pudding either. I couldn't be happier.'