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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Lisa McLoughlin

'The worst day of my life': Perrie Edwards details heartbreaking miscarriage at 24 weeks for the first time

Perrie Edwards has spoken for the first time about the grief of miscarriage, revealing she lost a baby at 24 weeks following an earlier pregnancy loss.

The Little Mix singer, 32, welcomed her son Axel with fiancé Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in 2021.

But in a candid new interview, she described the heartbreak of losing two pregnancies; first at an early stage and later during her second trimester.

“Axl's a rainbow baby,” she recalled. “So I had a miscarriage very early on with my first ever pregnancy and it was so early. I remember finding out I was pregnant.

“Obviously, I started bleeding not long after and I went to the hospital and I had the scan and they were like, ‘There's no baby.’

Adding: “And I was like, ‘oh, I've made this up. Maybe I got a false positive or something.’ And I remember being on my own at the appointments because nobody was there.”

The singer pictured with fiancé Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and son Axel in 2022 (Getty)

Reflecting on her pregnancy with Axel, she said it was “one of the happiest times” of her life but admitted she was “on edge” until each scan confirmed everything was progressing normally.

She told Paul C. Brunson on his podcast, We Need to Talk: “Like, I just love carrying babies. And it was lovely. But I was a bit on edge thinking, oh, gosh, like, I want to get past the 12 weeks. I want to get past this. And when I get past every scan and that pregnancy was complete bliss, it was perfect.”

A year later, while rehearsing for Little Mix’s farewell tour, Edwards discovered she was pregnant again.

“I found out when I was rehearsing for the Little Mix tour, the last Little Mix tour, I was at rehearsals and I thought, ‘oh, I don't feel good’,” she shared. “Every, every symptom under the sun. I was like, ‘I think I'm pregnant’.”

But she recalled the “worst day” of her life when, at a 22-week scan, doctors alluded to complications with the pregnancy.

“And then we went for what was a 20-week scan, but we were actually 22 weeks, and that was just the worst day of my life,” Edwards said. “Like horrendous.”

“And I just knew something was wrong in the scan, and he [the doctor] just kept going over the same thing, over the same thing... I've never experienced an out-of-body experience where everything goes in slow motion.”

Edwards appeared on Paul C. Brunson’s podcast, We Need to Talk (Paul C. Brunson/We Need to Talk podcast)

She continued: “So then I remember sobbing. He [Alex] was injured at the time and he couldn't really drive. He was struggling to drive but I couldn't see straight. I was just distraught. And yeah, we basically lost the baby at like 24 weeks.”

The singer described the pain of a later-term loss as “really hard”, explaining how difficult it was to tell family and friends after preparing for another child.

She reflected: “It's weird because the first time it happened, I think because it was so early, I was like, ‘oh, that's hard’. But I think when you're fully, like carrying in your 24 weeks and you've planned out like that room and all these things, it's really hard.

"And nobody knows other than, like, immediate friends and family. And I remember, like, shortly after, like, friends would message and be like, ‘how's the bump?’ And I'll be like, ‘there is no bump.’”

Edwards’ decision to speak openly adds her voice to a growing number of public figures breaking the silence around miscarriage and baby loss.

Recently Kelsey Parker revealed in June that her first child with partner Will Lindsay had tragically been “born sleeping” just days before his due date.

If you have been affected by this story, advice and support can be found at Sands. You can call them on 0808 164 3332 or email helpline@sands.org.uk

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