17-05-2025
Tracy Beaker star Dani Harmer details 'traumatic' five-day labour and says her partner feared losing her and their baby
Dani Harmer detailed her 'traumatic' five-day labour as she told Vanessa Feltz on her Channel 5 show that her partner feared losing both her and their baby.
The Tracy Beaker actress, 36, who starred as the lead in the show, welcomed her first child Avarie-Belle, eight, with her partner Simon Brough in 2016. She went on to welcome second child, Rowan in 2022.
Now the mother-of-two has revealed to Vanessa that delivering her firstborn wasn't without complications as was she was in labour for five days and it took 'a really long time to get over it'.
Dani needed an emergency c-section for her first pregnancy and they faced the possibility of losing Dani and their baby.
Appearing alongside James Jordan and Paula Rhone-Adrien, Dani said: 'I had a really traumatic first birth, with my first Avarie-Belle.
'I was in labour with her for five days which then resulted in an emergency cesarean - which is very different to an elective one.
'And it was really really scary. Not just for me but for my partner as well. I think it was more traumatic for him because he had to witness the whole thing.
'And it was scary for him thinking that he might not only lose his baby but he might lose me as well.
'I don't remember much of it because I was drugged up on a lot of different things, but it was an experience I really didn't want to have to repeat, so when we fell pregnant with my second, I really wanted to go for an elective caesarean.
'I found that they were really trying to persuade me to go for a natural birth and I said to them unless you can guarantee me that I'm going to give birth naturally, one hundred percent, then otherwise I will want an elective one.'
Their daughter was born at 5pm on June, 29 and weighed 6lb 9oz.
Dani confirmed that the trauma of her first pregnancy was the reason behind the six-year age gap between her two children.
She gave birth to her second child, Rowan in February 2022 at 10.49am and weighed 8lb 3oz'.
In January 2022 - a month before giving birth - the actress revealed she has been diagnosed with gestational diabetes in an Instagram post.
YThe mother-of-two (pictured with Simon and her two kids) revealed to Vanessa that there was she was in labour for five days and it took 'a really long time to get over it'
Dani, who is almost a mum to Rowan, two, needed an emergency c-section for her first pregnancy and they faced the possibility of losing Dani and their baby
Dani posted a photo of her daily blood glucose log book as she asked her followers for their advice.
Gestational diabetes is high blood sugar that can develop at any time during pregnancy but is more common in the second or third trimester, usually disappearing after the baby is born.
She had also revealed that she had been experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions, also known as false labour pains, that typically are not felt until the second or third trimester.
Braxton-Hicks contractions are the body's way of preparing for true labor, but they do not indicate that labor has begun.
