BBC Breakfast's Louise Minchin 'scared she would die' after frightening health battle

Former BBC Breakfast star Louise Minchin has opened up about a very scary health ordeal she suffered just days after giving birth to her eldest daughter, Mia

Former BBC Breakfast star Louise Minchin has opened up about a harrowing health scare, revealing she "feared she was going to die" following a severe medical emergency.

The well-known presenter graced the morning show for over two decades alongside Bill Turnbull and later with Charlie Stayt and Dan Walker. But she left the in 2021 to focus on her writing career.

Now aged 56, Louise has shared the frightening experience of her appendix bursting after the birth of her eldest daughter, whom she has with her husband David. Recounting the incident on the Mid Point podcast hosted by Gabby Logan, she said: "A week after Mia was born I had a burst appendix. That was really, really serious."

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"That was literally six days after she was born and it burst while I was in hospital. It was very dramatic and very traumatic.

That's the only thing I've ever had help with actually. I thought I was going to die and it was six days after my baby was born."

Despite her tendency to "lock things away," Louise acknowledged that this approach is not the solution to handling life's challenges.

Instead, she found solace in sports like swimming, which became a method for relaxation. She added: "It took me probably two or three years but what I would do is I would do the sport and have a really busy brain at the beginning and then I would calm down during the swim or whatever."

Louise also described the profound effect sports have had on her mental state: "What I've found incredible now is, I go from a busy brain to no thoughts in zero seconds. That is probably my safe zone, I'm just in my happy space."

Louise has previously opened up about her undiagnosed appendicitis during her pregnancy with Mia. She shared that she had been suffering from stomach pains that doctors and midwives dismissed as "normal".

Merely four days after undergoing an emergency caesarean, she was rushed back to hospital with "excruciating pain" and a high fever. With medical professionals unable to determine the issue, Louise was hurried into surgery after signing numerous consent forms.

After the operation, she recalls a midwife saying: "Hello, you're the lady whose appendix burst, aren't you? " It was then she discovered what had transpired. Writing in the Mirror in 2013, she said: "It was a terrible time. When I was being wheeled away for the op, I genuinely thought that if the pain went away and I didn't come back, that was a better option.

"Usually I'm irritatingly positive so later on, I couldn't believe I had reached the point of giving up. It played on my mind so much, I spoke to my GP and a counsellor who diagnosed me with post-traumatic stress."

"After coming out of hospital, I was still in pain. I'd sleep for hours and was in lots of pain. It took nine months to recover."