Sophie Ellis-Bextor strengthened by traumatic pregnancies

London (ANI): British singer and songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor has revealed that her traumatic pregnancies and her baby's illness have made her a strong person. Ellis-Bextor, 30, had suffered complications with the premature birth of her first son Sonny five years ago, and had to relive the emotional ordeal when her second baby, Kit Valentine, was born nine weeks early, weighing just under 3lb.

The singer suffers from pre-eclampsia, a common but serious complication of pregnancy, which causes dangerously high blood pressure in the mother, and is one of the leading causes of premature birth. "With Sonny it was my first experience of pregnancy and I think nature gave me some sort of protective bubble that didn't allow things to really hit me," the News Of the World quoted her as saying.

"A lot of it was touch-and-go and nothing happened as it should. I had post-traumatic stress afterwards. You put a lot of your feelings and panics on hold and then later it all rewinds in your head over and over and you can't believe what you''ve gone through. It''s like being hit by a train. "Then in the middle of it all, when Sonny was four months old, he got meningitis, which was terrifying. I thought that was it, and I went to pieces. He was so hot and getting hotter and hotter. It was incredibly frightening," she added.

Despite this traumatic experience, Ellis-Bextor wasn't worried when she fell pregnant again after doctors assured her that it was highly unlikely her pre-eclampsia would return. "Statistically, it wasn''t an issue. I was really excited and felt completely fine," she said.

"Then, at 28 weeks, I was due to do a show in Russia and needed a doctor''s note to fly. "There was part of me that knew something was up. I''d tested my blood pressure and it was quite high. Then the doctor said she had a bad feeling. "Within days of being diagnosed with pre-eclampsia again, the consultant decided they needed to get my baby out.

"I didn't at any point allow myself to imagine anything bad. You have a moment where you think: ''Oh God, no!'' but you just have to push through that. Richard was with me and at least both of us had been through it before so we knew what to expect,"

She describes Kit's birth - an emergency C-section at London''s Chelsea And Westminster Hospital on February 7 - as lovely but scary at the same time. "Whatever has happened to me, I love how my life has turned out. I''m happier, more confident and stronger now than I''ve ever been. I''ve lost a lot of insecurities and I have my boys and a man who really loves me," she added.