Gemma Atkinson didn’t "even consider having a child" until she met Gorka Marquez.
The former ‘Emmerdale’ actress has 11-week-old daughter Mia with the ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ professional, but before she met the dancer she imagined she would end up in her 40s with "six or seven dogs and be fine with it", rather than be a mother.
Asked if she had ever felt of herself as a mum, she said: "No, and it’s probably going to sound really bad but I never – not that I didn’t want children – like I said, my sister’s got three, my two best friends have got two babies each so I’ve grown up around babies.
"But until I met Gorka, I couldn’t picture myself with a family with anybody because the relationships that I had previously weren’t stable enough for me to even consider having a child.
"I’d just always imagined that I’d be forty-odd with six or seven dogs and I’d be fine with it. I just – when I met Gorka, something changed in me and I thought, ‘Ooh there’s a softer side of me.’ "
Gemma endured a traumatic birth with Mia and despite trying to stay calm on the outside, the ex-‘Hollyoaks’ star was "crapping [herself]".
Speaking on Giovanna Fletcher’s ‘Happy Mum Happy Baby’ podcast, she added: "I did start my contractions but by the second one, her heart-rate dropped really low.
"I think it dropped to like 40 and she said to me – the midwife at Bolton was brilliant and she just leaned over to me and she said, ‘I’m going to press a red button and everyone’s going to come in but you just need to stay calm’.
"I was like, ‘OK,’ and she did and everyone came in. Gorka said it was like a Formula 1 pit stop because everyone was around me.
"They said it’s going to be a section and I said, ‘That’s absolutely fine.’
"I was absolutely crapping myself but something in me was like, ‘OK, this is what’s meant to happen, this is the best way.’
"It was only when they put the epidural in me and I was lying on the bed, a guy came over and I had to sign a piece of paper, if I need blood transfusions will I accept them and I started thinking, ‘Oh my God this is quite serious, it’s quite manic.’ "
Gemma recently hit back at parenting trolls after some criticised her.
The 34-year-old shared a meme on Instagram which read: "On your mark, get set, go f**k yourself."
She added: "I’m absolutely all for getting help and advice! But there’s ways to do it,
"So to those people who seem to be the unqualified experts when it comes to being a mum, the above is for you. Print it and hang it on the wall next to your perfect parent award."
You can download Giovanna Fletcher’s ‘Happy Mum Happy Baby’ podcast from acast.com.
Gemma Atkinson ‘didn’t consider’ motherhood until she met Gorka Marquez
