Alex Jones admits her ‘obsession’ with having a second baby after suffering a miscarriage put a strain on her relationship with husband Charlie Thomson.
In 2017 the presenter – now a mother-of-three – was forced to undergo a missed miscarriage operation just nine weeks into her second pregnancy after the baby foetus stopped developing and her body struggled to expel pregnancy tissue.
Jones, 45, eventually welcomed a second child, son Kit, at London’s Queen Charlotte Hospital in May 2019, and her own struggles contributed to a new role in BBC series Alex Jones: Making Babies.
Struggle: Alex Jones admits her ‘obsession’ with having a second baby after suffering a miscarriage put a strain on her relationship with husband Charlie Thomson
The One Show presenter worked as a fertility assistant during the fly-on-the-wall reality show, filmed exclusively at King’s Fertility clinic, and admits to understanding the desperation prospective parents feel while attempting to fall pregnant.
She told The Times: ‘When people decide to have children — I know it happened for me — you kind of go from that thing, “Oh, I can’t get pregnant,” to it becoming all you want. You become this person with blinkers on.’
Jones admits she had little time to process the loss of what should have been her second child, with presenter travelling from hospital to the BBC studio, where she was scheduled to host The One Show, which is transmitted live five nights a week.
Tragic: The One Show presenter tragically lost her unborn child in 2017, with the baby having ‘stopped developing’ at nine weeks (pictured with husband Charlie Thompson)
To further complicate matters, the presenter needed a second operation after the first failed to clear away all of the dead tissue – with the delay putting a tight strain on her marriage.
‘It turns out that they didn’t take everything,’ she explained. ‘Of course all you can think is, “Oh my God, time is ticking,” and you become obsessed with trying to rush things through. It’s not great for your relationship. It’s hard, the whole thing takes its toll.’
She added: ‘At one point I didn’t think we’d have more than one child. I didn’t enjoy that pregnancy as much because I was constantly thinking, “Is baby still there? Can I feel the baby kicking?”
Family: Jones with sons Teddy (left) and Kit (right) in 2020, three years after suffering a miscarriage while carrying a second child
Proud mother: The presenter didn’t have her first child until she was 39-years old (pictured with her two sons)
‘Once you’ve experienced something like that you never enjoy pregnancy in quite the same way.’
Sons Teddy, five, and Kit, now three, were introduced to their baby sister in August 2021 when Jones welcomed daughter Annie, her third child with Thomson.
Speaking to The Sun, the Welsh star admitted the road to conception is not always smooth.
Opening up: The Welsh star previously admitted the road to conception is not always smooth
latest addition: Sons Teddy, five, and Kit, now three, were introduced to their baby sister in August 2021 when Jones welcomed daughter Annie, her third child with Thomson
She said: ‘For all of us who’ve wanted a child, you’re brought up through your twenties to, ‘don’t get pregnant, don’t get pregnant, don’t get pregnant. And then suddenly one day you sort of decide that I now want to have a baby, and it completely flips 360 degrees.
‘Then you become obsessed by it. It’s difficult when it happens naturally, and it can take a while. But this is a whole new and different level of wanting — the disappointment and what it does to you as a couple.
‘But I was really naive. I hadn’t thought about it. I thought, “well, there you are. We’ll try to have a baby and that’ll be lovely, and then a baby will arrive”. And, of course… how naive. You don’t have any control over it.’
Getting involved: Her own struggles contributed to a new role in BBC series Alex Jones: Making Babies, during which the presenter worked as a fertility assistant at a London clinic