Tracy Beaker star Dani Harmer reveals her upset at having to have an emergency caesarean

Actress Dani Harmer has opened up to Hello magazine about how devastated she was when the birth of her first daughter Avarie-Belle didn’t go as she had planned.

"My birth plan was literally, birthing pool, whale music, no drugs, let's just try and be really hippy about it and do some breathing. But it just turned into the complete opposite."

New mum Dani Harmer has spoken out about how her plan to have a natural water-birth was brought to a distressing end. After three exhausting days in labour Dani had to abandon her birth plan and have an emergency caesarean.

While Dani admits that she was ‘devastated’ at not being able to have the birth she planned for, the emergency caesarean meant that baby Avarie-Belle was delivered safely weighing six pounds and nine ounces.

Labour is unpredictable and while many women find making a birth plan a helpful way to focus on what they would ideally like or what they would prefer not to happen in labour, these circumstances are often out of our control. The health of both mother and baby will always be put first before the birth plan.

Our midwife Anna explains

“Every woman has a vision or expectation about how they will birth their baby, however even with all the planning and birth preparation, the circumstances of labour are often out of our control. It can be painful and frightening this for couples when the way their baby is going to be born changes. Often these situations shift suddenly and this ‘new plan’ has to be processed quickly which is very stressful. It is entirely normal to grieve for the ‘dream birth’ that didn’t happen and women need support and understanding to accept that they haven’t failed in any way. I think it is great that Dani was able to talk about how upset she was when her labour ended up in a caesarean birth. Talking through these emotions is important for our mental health as Mothers and how we care for our growing babies."