Meghan Markle is getting vulnerable on her brand new podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder. Although the show will mostly focus on her entrepreneurial journey launching her As Ever lifestyle brand, the Duchess of Sussex recalled suffering from a “rare” postpartum health condition during the April 8 premiere episode. Meghan and her first guest, Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, had a candid conversation about the challenges of new motherhood, balancing parenting and work, and their shared experience with the condition, postpartum preeclampsia. Here’s what Meghan Markle shared about her postpartum health scare, preeclampsia, during the Confessions of a Female Founder premiere.

Meghan Markle’s “Huge” Postpartum Health Scare, Explained

Meghan Markle’s Postpartum Preeclampsia Health Scare

During the debut episode of Confessions of a Female Founder, Meghan and Whitney reflected on their health challenges after giving birth. “We both had very similar experiences — though we didn’t know each other at the time — with postpartum,” Meghan shared. “We both had preeclampsia. Postpartum preeclampsia.” According to the Cleveland Clinic, the condition can occur up to six weeks after giving birth and causes high blood pressure and excess protein in your urine. It can also lead to brain damage, stroke, and death if left untreated. (The Duchess of Sussex didn’t specify whether she had the condition after giving birth to Archie in 2019 or Lilibet in 2021.)

“It’s so rare and so scary,” Meghan said about preeclampsia. She reflected, “You’re still trying to juggle all of these things, and the world doesn’t know what’s happening quietly. And in the quiet, you’re still trying to show up for people – mostly for your children — but those things are huge medical scares.” Whitney chimed in: “I mean life or death, truly.”

During the same episode, Meghan also got real about juggling her business and being a mom. She noted that Lilibet goes to pre-school for half days now and still takes lots of naps. “If she wakes up and wants to find me, she knows where to find me, even if my door is closed to the office,” the podcast host said. “She’ll be sitting there on my lap during one of these meetings with a grid of all the executives… I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Meghan emphasized that she doesn’t wanna miss any of the mundane parenting moments.

You can listen to new episodes of Confessions of a Female Founder every Tuesday on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Amazon Music! Meghan will speak with several more female founders.