Paloma Faith's childbirth confession: "I believed it would be perfect - but everything went to s***"

"I really, really believed that I was going to have this perfect, natural birth. But everything went to s**t,” she said on stage.

"I was like 'Yeah, I've got a good pain threshold' but nine hours with no pain relief and stood over a bed, I was like, 'Can I have some drugs now please?'"

"All my dreams of being this bohemian beauty just fizzled. I was instantly the contemporary woman who can't handle it.

“But I'm aware that I would've died in Victorian times had I gone through what I did."

Paloma, whose child’s name and sex have been kept private from the public, also opened up to the 20,000-strong crowd about her post-baby weight struggles.

During her pregnancy, she says she gained approx 3 stone (or 42lbs), and the pressure to ‘bounce back’ following the birth made her feel awful about herself.

"Afterwards I beat myself up for a long time because I put on 3 stone. “I thought 'You're hideous, how can you go in the public eye?' and everyone told me you lose a stone after birth, but no, I was 3 stone after the birth so I must've put on 4 stone.

“I was really worried about it and I was really horrible to myself and I lost a lot of it but I've kept some as a souvenir.

"I just thought, I'll keep a bit of that to remind myself."

Sounds like Paloma had a real tough time of childbirth – and of all the pressures to look a certain way that come with being a new mum.

We hope she’s coming to terms with her traumatic experience, feeling more confident about her new mum physique (of course, she looks great) – but most importantly, enjoying the cuddles and smiles and ups and downs of being a new mum ?

Images: Instagram/Paloma Faith

Read more:

• Paloma's brightly-coloured buggy choice
• This is what post-baby bodies look like
• Paloma: Having a buggy made me feel like Jesus