Olivia Bowen shares 'complicated' feelings amid 'VTS' diagnosis
Olivia Bowen has opened up about her devastating experience of losing a child to mark Maternal Mental Health Week. The 31-year-old and her husband, Alex, discovered they were pregnant with twins at six weeks, before suffering Vanishing Twin Syndrome (VTS) a fortnight later.
This heartbreaking condition occurs when one twin in a multiple pregnancy vanishes, leaving a single embryo behind. It is a type of miscarriage estimated to happen in 36% of twin pregnancies, where the affected baby is absorbed by the surviving twin or the mother's body.
Olivia and Alex, parents to two-year-old Abel Jacob, are expecting the surviving twin and their second child this summer. Reflecting on the ordeal, Olivia said she'd felt the 'most complicated batch of emotions' she'd ever known.
"I have battled with depression and anxiety for most of my teen years onwards, and when I felt its ugly head rising stronger than I'd ever felt when I was pregnant with Abel, I was absolutely terrified," the former Love Island contestant said on Instagram yesterday.
"I felt like that darkness was taking over and pulling me down with both paws. I felt it again after giving birth, have felt it intermittently throughout motherhood. It's not just the hormones, it's the whole expectation, the change, and the world feeling different to what you have experienced your whole life.
"Then fast forward to this year, losing one of our precious babies to Vanishing Twin Syndrome and going through the most complicated batch of emotions I've ever felt." Despite these hardships, Olivia said she was utterly astounded by the responses of other women who had suffered similar experiences. She continued: "Never be ashamed of your emotions. It is the most incredible thing about you - being able to feel so deeply.
"It is so scary to be so vulnerable, isn't it? This is a crazy ride and sometimes it's beautiful and rewarding and sometimes it's cruel and confusing. I'm here for you all. Please look after the women and mothers in your life."
Earlier this year, Olivia also spoke about her VTS ordeal on Loose Women. While Olivia experienced no VTS symptoms at all, the Cleveland Clinic suggests that light bleeding, cramps, and pain in both the back and pelvis can be a cause for concern.
The condition is usually caused by abnormalities in one twin's DNA, which hinder its growth. Unfortunately, these are typically present at conception and cannot be altered or controlled. "If the embryo disappears in the first trimester, neither you nor your surviving foetus will likely experience any complications," the clinic explains.
"Your pregnancy will continue as usual... It's possible to be pregnant with multiples and to miscarry one or more of the embryos before your first pregnancy ultrasound. In this case, neither you nor your provider will know you were pregnant with twins or triplets."
Although Olivia's pregnancy has caused her a great deal of stress, she shared a poignant thought that brings some comfort. On Loose Women, she explained: "The one beautiful part of it that I try to hold on to is that they do absorb into your body.
"So, they just gradually go back into your body. Those cells become a part of you, and that's what we've sort of been holding on to. But throughout all of this, you know, we've got a really healthy little baby in there, that we are so excited to meet."
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