Perrie Edwards, a member of the British girls super group Little Mix, has opened up about ongoing pregnancy speculation throughout her career, revealing the heartbreak she suffered through both miscarriage and stillbirth.
Key Takeaways:
- Edwards was a member of the girl group Little Mix, which she joined after auditioning for the reality show “The X Factor UK.”
- Little Mix became the first group ever to win the competition and became superstars, particularly in the United Kingdom.
- Edwards’ fame grew further when she entered a relationship with Zayn Malik, a member of the British boy band One Direction.
- She then began dating (and later became engaged to) British footballer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
- Throughout her high-profile relationships, fans repeatedly engaged in pregnancy speculation, which she said was hurtful.
- Edwards revealed this year that she has suffered both a miscarriage and a stillbirth.
The Backstory:
Edwards is known for her two high-profile relationships. She met Zayn Malik of One Direction in 2011 on the set of “The X Factor.” He and his band had competed on the show the year prior, coming in third place. Both One Direction and Little Mix were massively successful, particularly in the United Kingdom (UK).
After three years, the two split, and in 2017, she began dating Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, a footballer named to England’s national team who competed in the FIFA World Cup. At one point, he was the second-youngest player ever to represent England in the European Championships, and most recently played for Beşiktaş, a Turkish team.
Oxlade-Chamberlain and Edwards welcomed a son in 2021 and became engaged in 2022.
Throughout both relationships, however, Edwards consistently faced pregnancy speculation from fans, who analyzed her appearance in an attempt to guess whether or not she was expecting.
The Details:
Appearing on the “We Need to Talk” podcast, hosted by Paul C. Brunson, Edwards discussed her life, relationships, and parenthood — which included a miscarriage and stillbirth.
Love of Parenthood
But first, she gushed about her son, and how he has changed her life in a positive way:
You don’t sweat the small stuff anymore. You just see things so much differently when you’ve got a child.
And I think you invest so much time, like you say, in their happiness, that you kind of just live through them. And I love that this is his first – obviously, it’s our first time experiencing life and we’re still learning and navigating it – but I love seeing it from his point of view.
And he asks so many questions that I’m like, huh, that’s such a good question! And he’s so much like his dad. He’s so charismatic, funny. Like, he’s so jokes. He’s got the best sense of humor. He’s just lovely to be around.
She and Brunson further bonded over their shared love of parenthood, with Edwards saying she had always wanted to have children.
“When you birth something that’s just half of you and half of them, it’s like this magical little being, isn’t it? And they’re just the best,” she said, with Brunson adding, “It is, I think, the nearest thing to a miracle.”
Pain of Loss
The conversation then turned to pregnancy speculation, which she said she understands — but added that it can be hurtful, too:
You can look at it two ways, I guess, with the whole pregnancy thing, right? It’s a blessing. It’s beautiful. People love pregnant women, and they kind of just want to be like, you’re pregnant, you’re glowing! And it’s a beautiful thing.
But at the same time, it’s a very vulnerable thing for women. It’s a very private thing for women.
I think we have to kind of navigate a bit better with that situation, because it, yes, it’s beautiful and it’s exciting and it’s speculation. And is she pregnant? I don’t know, I want to know. But at the same time, you don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors with women.
Pregnancy’s scary. It’s worrying. There’s so many things that come with being pregnant and the stresses and the scans and the problems and the complications. And, like, Alex and I have been through a lot with pregnancies that people don’t necessarily know about.
At this point, Edwards began sobbing, and was unable to speak for a moment. “I’ve held it together so well,” she said through tears. “I knew that was going to get me.”
She then explained that she had experienced a miscarriage and a stillbirth. A miscarriage is defined as pregnancy loss before 20 weeks gestation, and a stillbirth is after 20 weeks.
Edwards said she had never shared this information before — not because she was ashamed, but because the experiences had been so painful.
The Miscarriage
“I had a miscarriage very early on with my first ever pregnancy. And it was so early,” she said. “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. 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 appointment because nobody was there. And I remember going in to see my gynecologist after with the reports. And I was like, ‘Can you just explain to me? So there was no baby.’ He was like, ‘No, no, no, my darling, you’ve had a miscarriage.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, OK,’ because I didn’t understand. I was like, ‘I thought you were saying there was never a baby.’ He said, ‘No, there was a baby, but now there isn’t.'”
She later became pregnant with her “rainbow baby,” — her son.
“I loved being pregnant. It was one of the happiest times of my life – like, I just love carrying babies,” she said. “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 I want to get past every scan. And that pregnancy was complete bliss. It was perfect. Everything was great. Every scan was positive.”
The Stillbirth
After her son’s birth, she became pregnant again but the couple didn’t share the news with anyone despite their excitement, as Edwards practiced for her upcoming Little Mix tour.
But throughout the tour, Edwards was bleeding heavily, and put on a brave face to make it through her performances. A blood clot was found around the sac, but her baby had survived, and eventually, the blood clot even went away, giving them hope their baby would make it.
“I think 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. Like, horrendous,” she said. “And I just knew something was wrong in the scan. And he just kept going over the same thing, over the same thing.”
Eventually, her doctor broke the news:
I remember sitting down, and I remember him just, saying these things, but I don’t remember what he said. I’ve never experienced an out-of-body experience where, you know, when everything goes in slow motion, and you start hearing everything sounds like in the movies. That happened. And I was like, just sat there… Alex just put his hand on my leg, and he went, ‘Oh, no.’ And I was just like, oh, no, this isn’t good. So I remember sobbing….
And yeah, we basically lost the baby at like 24 weeks. I think I was just traumatized. Like, it’s weird because the first time it happened, I think because it was so early, I was like, oh, that’s sad. But I think when you’re fully carrying and you’re 24 weeks, and you’ve planned out their room and all these things, it’s really hard.
But no, I’ve never spoke about it before, because obviously, I end up a wreck. And nobody knows other than immediate friends and family. And I remember shortly after, friends would message and be like, ‘How’s Bump?’ And I’ll be like, ‘There isn’t one.’
The Bottom Line:
Other women have shared similar heartbreaking experiences. Though it is no doubt painful to discuss, when parents openly acknowledge pregnancy loss, it can be an assurance to other parents who have experienced loss that they are not alone — and that no matter what society says, it is normal to grieve that loss.
Losing a child is one of the most painful things a parent can experience. Though the preborn child is still in his or her mother’s womb, that child is a living human being — and the death of that child is real.
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