Nadia Sawalha on Rachel Burden's pregnancy remarks

Loose Women panellists have slammed ‘ludicrous’ remarks from a BBC Breakfast presenter who opened up about feeling ‘really selfish’ after deciding to have her baby at 41.

Broadcaster Rachel Burden, who is now 49, reflected on having her fourth child in her forties with a complicated pregnancy after three ‘straightforward’ ones – and making the ‘arrogant assumption’ that her next one would be the same.

Nadia Sawalha, 53, had her second daughter Kiki, 18, when she was 42. Speaking on the ITV programme on Thursday, she said that the most important thing is ‘if you can look after your child’.

‘I do find it funny that this word selfish is thrown at women whatever we do,’ she said.

‘I just don’t believe in it. Why is selfish always a bad thing, why can’t you do something for one self?

Nadia Sawalha , 53, had her second daughter Kiki, 18, when she was 42. Speaking on the ITV programme on Thursday, she said that the most important thing is ‘if you can look after your child’

‘How many people have a baby purely for altruistic reasons… we don’t, we have babies because our selves want to have a baby.

‘So the whole thing is just ludicrous to me.’

Nadia also stressed that you can have complications in your pregnancy ‘at any age’.

Kaye Adams, 61 – who had both her children in her forties – added that Rachel was ‘beating herself up a little bit’.

‘Her fourth pregnancy by all accounts was really quite problematic,’ she told the show.

‘And her baby was born premature so it was a difficult experience compared to her first three.

‘So I think she’s reflecting on that and thinking maybe she kind of breezed on into it.’

‘I had a different experience, I had the easiest pregnancy with my two which I suppose is just fortune isn’t it,’ Kaye added.

Broadcaster Rachel Burden (pictured in 2017), who is now 49, reflected on having her fourth child in her forties with a complicated pregnancy after three ‘straightforward’ ones – and making the ‘arrogant assumption’ that her next one would be the same

Kaye Adams, 61 – who had both her children in her forties – added that Rachel was ‘beating herself up a little bit’

‘But it is interesting, the way women kind of look at themselves… accuse themselves of things.’

Judi Love, 43, also revealed that her mother was 48 – and her father, 53 – when she was born.

‘For both of my parents it was definitely a shock,’ she explained. ‘My mum thought she was going through the menopause… hello, I appeared!’

The presenter revealed that some people stopped talking to her mother because they found the situation ’embarrassing’ while other good friends stood by her.

‘People judge you either way,’ she concluded, saying people should feel like they can  have a child if they’re ‘in a place where they feel happy and supported’.

Rachel made the comments on the Mid Point podcast, remarking that she had already had three children when she became pregnant with her fourth, after discussing the idea at length with her husband, fellow journalist Luke Mendham.

Nadia also stressed that you can have complications in your pregnancy ‘at any age’. Pictured with her daughters in 2019

Naida was 42 when she had her daughter Kiki. Both pictured in 2019, at the premiere of Rocketman

‘I had three very sort of straightforward pregnancies and I made the terribly arrogant assumption I’d have a fourth baby and it would be fine and straightforward,’ she said.

‘And I think sometimes when I reflect on it, I think it was a really selfish thing to do. I came from a big family – I really wanted a big family.

‘I had that moment where Luke and I sat around a table when the third child had gone to school and thought, “Oh, this is so boring”.’

Rachel said she spent a ‘long time’ trying to convince her husband that ‘this was the right idea’.

‘And then I was 40 or 41 and I did get pregnant, and kind of said, “It will be fine, you  will barely even notice it”,’ she continued.

‘As the pregnancy went on, something wasn’t quite right and I was kind of puffing up. My mum was saying to me, “Something is not quite right about this”, and I was saying, “Nah, nah, it’s fine. I’m just busy”.’

It emerged when she went for a hospital check-up that Rachel had ‘all the signs of pre-eclampsia’ – a condition that causes high blood pressure during pregnancy that can be serious if left untreated.

Within 36 hours of being diagnosed with the condition in February 2016, Rachel gave birth to baby Henry at just 31 weeks into the pregnancy.

She acknowledged that she was ‘incredibly fortunate because he was effectively a healthy baby – he was tiny, he was 3lb, but he was healthy’.

She added: ‘Anyone who’s had a tiny premmy baby will know that their skin is so thin and fragile – they’re still supposed to be inside you. But we had amazing care and it took eight weeks for him to come out of hospital, to feed and grow, and get to the size he needed to be at, as in a newborn baby size.’

The number of women having babies over 40 has been increasing in recent years – overtaking the number of women under the age of 20 for the first time in 2015, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Pregnancies for over-40s carry a higher risk of complications such as pre-eclampsia, as well as hypertension and diabetes.

However, reacting to an ITV snippet covering the story on This Morning, Rachel took to X to say: ‘Friends… this is not what I said, but hey ho. Probs best to listen to the whole pod for context.’

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