Last May, Megan Gale suffered a miscarriage when she was eight weeks pregnant, and it’s a secret she has carried around until now.
The 41-year-old, who was born in Australia to an English dad and a part-Maori mum, decided to go public with her heartbreak to challenge the stigma surrounding losing a child before birth, something which affects one in four New Zealand women.
After she fell pregnant, Megan’s body couldn’t cope.
“I had a cold, flu, I got laryngitis, I had a chest infection — it just got worse and worse,” Megan told InStyle, who was working as a judge on the show Australia’s Next Top Model at the time.
Following a reassuring six-week scan Megan explains how, in the weeks that followed, she felt something was amiss.
“I can’t put my finger on it. There was no physical change or a sign or symptom.”
A trip to the obstetrician confirmed her fears, she’d lost the baby.
“He just said, ‘I’m so sorry, it’s gone’.”
After a hospital procedure, Megan was forced to get on a plane to Milan as part of her commitments with Top Model.
“There have been plenty of times in my life I’ve had to suck things up — but this was the most challenging time I’ve had to do that,” she said.
“I came home from having a procedure, hugged my boy for a few hours and had to pack a bag and go. Not being around loved ones was really hard.”
However Megan, who a two-year-old son River with partner Shaun Hampson, is back to “feeling health and great” is looking forward to the year ahead.
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