TV presenter, journalist and author Rebecca Charlton can be found presenting and commentating on channels including Eurosport, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky. These days she's juggling her career with being a new mum to her daughter, after unveiling her bump at last year's Champions of CycleSport Dinner.
This year Rebecca will be returning to host proceedings at our annual celebration of all things cycling on Thursday, 24 November, at Evolution London in Battersea Park.
We caught up with her to chat about the impact that research Action has funded had on her both during her pregnancy and beyond...
This time last year I was starting to reveal a little bump in my dress on stage at the Champions of Cyclesport Dinner and was asking my lovely friend and co-host Matt Stephens to steady me in my heels. We don’t always insist on holding hands as we enter stage right but we did that day!
I’m now sat chatting to Action Medical Research with my five-month-old daughter Mila sat on my lap and I am so immensely grateful to the medical team that brought her into the world safely after an emergency C-section and looked after my recovery when I had some complications.
At many different stages of pregnancy, I was in awe of the capabilities of both the technology and staff we experienced along the way, much of which I later discovered were born solely from research and funding from Action Medical Research.
Before we’d even seen the midwife in early pregnancy, I was aware of the importance of taking folic acid as either a supplement or by boosting your diet. We’ve come such a long way in our understanding of the ways this can support as healthy a pregnancy as possible and that’s thanks to the work of this charity. I was able to understand that I could statistically decrease the likelihood of neural tube defects developing in the first 12 weeks and although we are sadly unable to control everything in pregnancy of course, it was beyond helpful to be armed with this information and know I was doing everything that was within my control. The evidence when it comes to the impact of folic acid is staggering and each year Action fund more vital research such as this.
When I was overdue and showing signs of placenta previa, we found it incredibly reassuring to have extra scans with our lovely sonographer, showing everything in an incredible amount of detail. It’s not that long ago that expecting parents had no scans throughout the entire pregnancy and discovering that one of the reasons we had such comprehensive care was thanks to Action was so heart-warming.
I have supported the charity for the last few years after learning how much they do to help families in immense need of support in extremely devastating medical circumstances but I didn’t realise how many things we take for granted, as being readily available, that they also fund and research, for every pregnancy.
Thank you, Action Medical Research, for all that you do and the hope you bring to so many.
See Rebecca chatting about folic acid and exercise during her pregnancy here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2tShb3S34Po&t=771s