British actor Daisy Aitkens tells about her daughter’s dramatic childbirth â and why she has nominated the team who cared for them for a MUM Award for outstanding maternity care
The day got off to a very ordinary start. Daisy Aitkens was emptying the dishwasher in her pyjamas while her husband Neil got ready for work. Then her waters broke â eight weeks before her due date.
Daisy and Neil dashed to their car and rang the hospital where she was due to give birth, knowing she needed urgent care. But to their horror, the hospital wouldn’t admit her. “They were aware how early the baby was coming, and said they didn’t have enough beds in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit,” recalls Daisy, 37.
“So we called the nearest hospital, which luckily was Chelsea and Westminster. I remember sobbing on the phone to the poor woman on the other end. She said, âDon’t worry, just come in and we’ll look after you’. She was wonderful.”
Daisy has written for the hit comedy My Family, appeared in episodes of EastEnders and Casualty, and wrote and directed British rom-com You, Me and Him, starring David Tennant. But she says her road to Âmotherhood was filled with enough Âdramatic twists and turns to fill a TV script.