Strictly Come Dancing professional Gorka Marquez has hailed his partner Gemma Atkinson as his “hero”, after she detailed the “traumatic” birth of their daughter.
Gorka and Gemma – who competed on the same series of Strictly in 2017, and later revealed they were in a relationship – welcomed their baby daughter, Mia, into the world earlier this month, but the former Emmerdale actress has revealed it was not an easy birth.
Posting a photo of herself when her daughter was just 30 hours old on Instagram, Gemma wrote: “The weary smile on my face doesn’t quite portray how happy I was inside as 30hrs earlier, things could have gone very differently.
“Mia was a tiny baby, 4lb 10. With that in mind the midwife was concerned she wouldn’t be strong enough to open my cervix. My water broke on a tues & we gave her the benefit of the doubt but by the Wednesday evening despite her being in the perfect place & so low down, she still hadn’t managed it.”
Gemma continued: “The decision was made to induce me to help her along but she disliked that even more. With every contraction her heart rate dropped. On the 3rd one midwife Katie who was taking care of me at the time pressed the panic alarm & within 15 mins I was rushed out, prepped & delivered Mia via an emergency C section.
“It wasn’t what I’d planned but thanks to my hypnobirthing despite the madness & panic, I was able to calmly keep my breathing technique & accept whatever is best for Mia just do it!
“2hrs later I was alone with Gorks & Mia blissfully happy in a ward when I suddenly felt extremely unwell. Gorka got a doctor and she took 1 look at me & again pressed the panic button.
“I was having a hemorrhage. A big one & I lost a lot of blood. I don’t remember much other than having around 9 doctors in the room, some injecting me, hooking me to drips, physically pulling clots out of me & one comforting Gorks who was beside himself in the corner.
“I woke in another room with Gorks & my family there, Mia sleeping soundly & a lovely midwife named Di who was checking my notes. The trauma was over & thanks to our NHS & incredible hospital staff we were ok. I’m fully aware for some people it’s a different outcome & I feel incredibly lucky that me & Mia are healthy & healed.”
She added: “I’m going to remind Mia of this story any time she has doubts about what she can achieve in life. The odds were against her from the start, but she’s been a little fighter from day 1.
“Feeds perfectly & is gaining weight like I do on an all inclusive holiday! We’re SO proud of her, she’s our little soldier & I’m so Grateful.”
An hour later, Gorka posted the same picture on his own Instagram, alongside a message of praise for his girlfriend, who he referred to as “his hero, his life”.
“After everything you went through to bring our little princess into this world and seeing you in one of the most heartbreaking situations of my life, to how you are now, taking care of Mia and giving her all the love and attention while I’m away from you both,” he wrote.
“I thought it wasn’t possible to love someone even more... WELL IT IS!! And times two!!”
Despite being partnered with different people during their run of Strictly, Gemma and Gorka grew close while they were on the show, eventually going public with their relationship once the series was over.
Earlier this week, Gemma was forced to hit back after facing criticism for leaving her newborn daughter at home with her mother, while she and Gorka went out for 10 minutes to get a coffee.
