Meghan Markle Opens Up About 'Huge' Medical Scare After Giving Birth in First 'Confessions of a Female Founder' Podcast

Meghan Markle has claimed in her debut podcast she suffered a huge medical scare after giving birth.

RadarOnline.com can reveal the Duchess of Sussex, 43, says she was hit by postpartum preeclampsia, a condition related to high blood pressure and excess protein in urine in the days or weeks after having a baby.

The former Suits star shared her experience with her first guest on Confessions Of A Female Founder, entrepreneur pal Whitney Wolfe Herd.

Bumble co-founder Wolfe Herd, 35, suffered from the same condition, which she described as "life or death, truly".

Markle said: “We both had very similar experiences – though we didn't know each other at the time – with postpartum, and we both had preeclampsia. Postpartum preeclampsia.”

The duchess did not reveal whether she suffered the condition after the birth of her son Prince Archie, five, or her daughter Princess Lilibet, three.

The Duchess added: "It's so rare and so scary. And you're still trying to juggle all of these things, and the world doesn't know what's happening quietly.

"And in the quiet, you're still trying to show up for people – mostly for your children – but those things are huge medical scares." Wolfe Herd added: "I mean life or death, truly."

Wolfe Herd spoke about Markle and Harry introducing their newborn son Archie to the world in a photocall at St George's Hall in Windsor Castle in May 2019, two days after his birth.

She told the Duchess: "I mean, I'll never forget the image of you after you delivered Archie, and the whole world was waiting for his debut.

"I was either just becoming or about to become a new mom, and I was like, 'Oh my God, how is this woman doing this? How is this woman putting on heels and going and debuting a child in this, you know, beautiful outfit in front of the entire world?'"

Wolfe Herd added: "I could barely face a doorbell delivery for takeout food in a robe" – at which Markle laughed.

Markle referred Wolfe Herd a "wildly successful female entrepreneur" and "the kind of friend who just always seems to know the exact right thing to say when I need perspective".

Herd, who co-founded Tinder, spoke about Markle's "brutalising" time in the public eye, telling her: "I do think there is so much to be said for your ability to exist, even in the presence of that.

"It takes a very strong cookie. When I was going through the media storm and being called this and that, and this and that, at Tinder, I didn't leave my house for, like, a month and a half."

They also talked about how having children had change their perspectives on life, with Wolfe Herd telling Meghan: "I think being a mother, as you know, nothing comes before that.

"Their well-being is our wellbeing. And so I think it forces you to prioritise in ways that, for me, I never did before."

Markle also talked about balancing home and work life, and explained how her daughter Lilibet would sometimes come into her office at their property in Montecito, California, following a nap.

She told Herd: "We became moms in the pandemic, post-pandemic culture, where there is so much working from home… I don't leave the house to go to an office; my office is here.

"Lili still naps, she gets picked up early and she naps. She only has a half day in preschool. If she wakes up and wants to find me, she knows where to find me, even if my door is closed to the office.

"She'll be sitting there on my lap during one of these meetings with a grid of all the executives… I wouldn't have it any other way. I don't want to miss those moments. I don't want to miss pickup if I don't have to. I don't want to miss drop-off."