Influencer Chessie King has given birth to a baby boy with her husband Mathew Carter following an emergency C-section in hospital on Tuesday.
The 33-year-old social media star, who already shares five-year-old daughter Auraelia with Carter, was rushed to hospital after her planned home birth in a birthing pool was interrupted when she began feeling very unwell.
King took to Instagram to share the news with her followers, explaining that she felt very sick while in her birthing pool at home before telling her husband that she needed to go to hospital because something did not feel right.
Upon arriving at the hospital, doctors informed King that she faced two choices: continue labouring potentially for another two to three days, or undergo an emergency caesarean section.
Describing the moment on social media, King wrote: "the home birth I had visualised for my entire pregnancy disappeared in one conversation. & somehow, we felt completely at peace with it. because by then my body had been telling me for hours that something wasn't right."
Her son was born safely at 5.15pm after 41 weeks and 4 days of pregnancy, following a long fertility journey that included 446 days of in-vitro fertilisation treatment, 86 injections, and a previous miscarriage.
King posted a video on her Instagram Story showing her newborn in her arms, while Carter cradled their son following the surgery. Following her announcement, fellow influencers and public figures including Emily Clarkson, Ashley James, and Alice Liveing flooded her post with congratulatory comments.
Emergency C-Section Following Birthing Pool Complications
King had initially planned a serene home birth for her second child, having previously welcomed daughter Auraelia in lockdown via C-section. However, her plans changed rapidly when physical signs indicated complications during labour.
Reflecting on the safe delivery of her baby boy, King penned: "At 5.15pm our boy was born, safely, after all of the trying, the ivf & 41 weeks + 4 days of pregnancy."
Carter, who has been married to King for 10 years and is diabetic, supported her closely throughout the birth and the preceding fertility treatments.
Before giving birth, King spoke about her excitement at becoming a mother of two, stating: "I'm so excited. It all just makes sense to me now."
The 446-Day IVF Journey and Overcoming Miscarriage
King's path to her second pregnancy was physically and emotionally demanding. Prior to conceiving, she endured a 446-day IVF process involving 86 injections, as well as an early miscarriage in March.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail to mark World IVF Day, body positivity campaigner King explained how she used Proceive supplements during her second fertility journey to support both her and her husband's health and general wellbeing.
King explained the impact of the process on her relationship: "It's [IVF] a huge toll on your body, physically, mentally, everything. But it was the closest Matt and I have ever been in our relationship in 10 years, and it just kind of felt like we were both doing it together."
She added that Carter helped her with injections during the initial stages: "He helped me with the injections the first two days. He's a diabetic, so he just knows how to do them."
Rather than dwelling on the hardship of fertility struggles, King actively chose to reframe her perspective. "I tried to flip it and flip the narrative and be like, 'How fascinating is this? Instead of being like, 'Oh, wow, this is the worst thing I could ever go through.'"
She praised the medical team who assisted them, noting: "We were just so lucky that we were supported by a clinic that has such a huge success rate in their first rounds."
Reframing Online Narratives and Countering Trolls
King explained that much of the content she encountered online regarding fertility was discouraging, which motivated her to share a more optimistic perspective with her followers.
"I always just share things online hoping that it gives that solace and that comfort, some optimism and hope," King said. "Because for me when I was looking at IVF on Instagram, I only saw IVF failures. I didn't really see IVF success, and that is the reality of IVF and fertility."
She added: "But I was like, I really want to give that hope so that someone watched it and go, okay, like it could happen for me. As humans we just absorb negativity so much easier than positivity. I feel, and it sticks with you that negativity. And actually, I wanted to try and like wipe through that."
King described her overall philosophy when facing adversity: "This is just how I've been in my entire life. I am faced with something, and I think, right, how can I make this the most empowering, positive experience, and learn from it? Because every negative emotion, every negative test that we got, and every loss, I really try to think it's just teaching me something. It's teaching me patience, and now I realize why it took so long because it was always meant to be that process."
During her pregnancy, King experienced the journey alongside her sister Bronte, who is also an influencer and her best friend. King was six weeks ahead of Bronte in her pregnancy.
"I'm six weeks in front of my sister, who is my best friend. So we're all able to do it together. If you had told me that at the beginning it would have made things a lot easier," King shared.
Despite receiving widespread support, King also faced criticism from online trolls who questioned her representation of fertility treatment.
Addressing the online backlash, King remarked: "Don't get me wrong, I got so many messages being like, 'This is not a real insight into IVF'. We were so lucky that it was after the first round, but for me it was it wasn't just doing that first round of IVF. It's all the time that led up to that when we were trying and obviously went through all the different notions of trying to conceive. You're always going to get it [trolling] if you're as open in speaking about topics as I am. I'm so aware that I'm always going to get voices, and I appreciate that everyone has their own opinions. And I'm not really affected by that."
December Pregnancy Announcement and Medical Clinic Details
King first announced her pregnancy last December by posting a video on Instagram to her nearly 700,000 followers, sharing her first baby bump picture.
In her announcement caption, King described her emotion as "Pure *euphoria*" and added: "there are no words in any language that will ever be able to explain just how unbelievably grateful we are for IVF/ICSI."
She explained that she and Carter had kept the news private for only two weeks before sharing it publicly: "We've only kept it our secret for 2 weeks meaning I'm still *very* early but we have never done any of this quietly, we've shared every negative that has lead to this positive with you."
King also challenged traditional pregnancy disclosure norms, writing: "& the whole 'don't tell anyone until 12 weeks' feels outdated & you've all taught us that support matters at every stage but I'm not going to lie, we're still nervous & feel like it's too good to be true [after losing a baby from early miscarriage back in March]."
Expressing empathy for others experiencing fertility challenges, she added: "We feel indescribably lucky & I truly appreciate this may be difficult for you to read. Please know we are wishing for every single one of you still waiting, hoping & hurting."
King credited Avenues fertility clinic, the third clinic the couple consulted, with providing them answers and hope. "Avenues have been nothing but extraordinary throughout this journey, when we went to them for our initial consultation we received more answers in the half an hour of being there than we had since last October. It was our third fertility clinic & they have honestly given us so so much hope. We are paying clients [& my goodness does IVF add up, the fertility medication I'm on now until my 12 week scan is absurdly expensive!]"
Understanding IVF Costs, Guidelines and Success Rates
In-vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a medical procedure in which a fertilised egg is inserted into a woman's womb to achieve pregnancy. The process involves removing eggs and sperm from a couple or donors, combining them in a laboratory to create an embryo, and transferring the embryo to the womb, where pregnancy continues as normal.
In the UK, guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommend that IVF be offered on the NHS to women under the age of 43 who have been trying to conceive through regular unprotected sex for two years.
Patients can also choose to pay for private IVF treatment, where costs vary widely. A single cycle typically ranges between £3,000 and over £7,000, though figures published in January 2018 recorded an average single cycle cost of £3,348. Additional fees for consultations, blood tests, and medical procedures can raise total expenses above £10,000, with no guaranteed outcome.
According to NHS data, success rates for women under 35 stand at approximately 29 per cent per cycle, with chances of a live birth declining as age increases. Figures from 2014 to 2016 indicate success rates of 23 per cent for women aged 35 to 37, 15 per cent for those aged 38 to 39, 9 per cent for ages 40 to 42, 3 per cent for ages 43 to 44, and 2 per cent for women over 44. Due to low success rates, IVF is generally not recommended for women over 42.
Since the birth of Louise Brown in Britain in 1978 as the world's first IVF baby, an estimated eight million babies have been born globally through the procedure. Individuals seeking support following pregnancy loss can contact Miscarriage UK via their website at www.Miscarriageuk.org, by email at [email protected], or by phone at 0303 003 6464.
