Carole Middleton's difficult birth story that left her 'very concerned'
The Princess of Wales made three very public appearances outside St Mary's Hospital after delivering Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis in the Lindo Wing.
While her labours were private, she had a huge team of medical professionals and her husband Prince William at her side for support – which was far from the case for her mother Carole Middleton.
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When the former flight attendant gave birth to her eldest daughter on 9 January 1982, she was "very concerned" about the winter weather leaving her facing childbirth alone.
"It was a bitterly cold winter, there was lots of snow and we were both worried we would not make it to the Royal Berkshire Hospital because the snow was so heavy," said Carole's neighbour and friend George Brown, who was also pregnant at the time, in Kate: The Future Queen.
"Carole was very concerned, but the doctor said he would get a helicopter to land in the field if need be," she added.
Kate's parents were living in a two-bedroom home in Bradfield and Michael was working a 40-minute drive away as a flight dispatcher at British Airways when Carole's contractions began. With a weather warning issued by the Met Office, Carole was worried she might encounter difficulties travelling to the hospital.
Luckily, this was not the case and the Middletons' daughter Catherine was born on 9 January 1982 in an "easy and natural birth," George said.
Praising Carole's natural parenting abilities, she added: "I saw Carole a week later. She had had an easy and natural birth, which didn't surprise me. Carole was fit and competent from the word go. She seemed to take to motherhood amazingly well, and when I went round to see her, she was happily breastfeeding and seemed to know exactly what she was doing.
"Catherine was a lovely little baby, cherubic and chubby-cheeked and so good. I remember she didn't cry much at all. I think that was probably because Carole was so relaxed."
Kate's labours
The Princess of Wales admitted she "really quite liked labour" after suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum during her pregnancies.
Speaking about her health on Giovanna Fletcher's Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast in February 2020, Kate said: "[It was] utterly rotten. I was really sick. I wasn't eating the things I should be eating and yet the body was still able to take all the goodness from my body and to grow new life, which I think is fascinating."
She added: "Because it had been so bad during pregnancy, I actually really quite liked labour… Because actually, it was an event that I knew there was going to be an ending to! But I know some people have really, really difficult times, so it's not for everybody. No pregnancy is the same, no birth is the same."
Prince George was born at 4.24 pm on 22 July 2013 weighing 8lb 6oz. The royal had a team of 23 medical professionals on call three months before the birth in case extra assistance was required.
"We had a huge team," Professor Teoh, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, revealed. "Anything that could possibly go wrong, we had a team of people behind each speciality." He added: "Everyone was sworn to secrecy."
For Princess Charlotte's birth at 8.34am on 2 May 2015 and Prince Louis' birth at 11.01am on 23 April 2018, the Princess called on the same two doctors: surgeon gynaecologist to the late Queen, Alan Farthing, and surgeon gynaecologist to the royal household, Guy Thorpe-Beeston.
She told Giovanna that she relied on meditation and deep breathing techniques of hypnobirthing to "take control" of her labours.
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