Queen gets pregnancy tips on visit

The Queen visits the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge
23 May 2013

The Queen picked up some tips to pass on to the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge during a visit to a maternity hospital, a mother has joked.

A small pool used by Claire Morris, 42, to give birth to her first child in the early hours of the day she visited left the Queen intrigued.

The new mother and her partner Stephen Tibbett, 44, proudly showed off their daughter, Charlotte Rose Tibbett Morris, when the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh toured a new £30 million extension to Cambridge's Rosie Maternity Hospital.

Their baby had been crying seconds before the Queen arrived but as she walked into the room the infant fell silent. Ms Morris went into labour at midnight and explained to the Queen she finally gave birth at 2.46am to a daughter weighing 8lbs 3oz.

After speaking to the monarch she explained the benefits of the warmed water in the birth pool, saying "the heat is a bit relaxing and gives pain relief and water means you're less weighted". The mother, a garden designer from the village of Impington near Cambridge, joked: "The Queen was interested in the birthing pool, maybe she's doing some research for Kate - who knows.".

The Duchess, who is around seven months pregnant, is due to give birth in mid-July and there is speculation she will have her baby in the private Lindo maternity wing of St Mary's hospital in London. Ms Morris added: "This has been a pretty amazing, magical day. About five years ago I was told the chances of me falling pregnant naturally were pretty remote."

The royal couple toured the new extension to the maternity hospital, which has been designed around the needs of expectant mothers and those who have just given birth. Mood lighting is provided along with relaxing decor, 10 birth pools and access to a private garden which mothers can use during labour.

The Queen and Duke met midwives and consultants working at the hospital and individuals involved in the extension project. At one point Philip stopped at a cafe run by the Royal Voluntary Service and shared a joke with a group of elderly women volunteers who run it. Nikki Soyza, RVS area manager for Cambridge, said afterwards: "We offered the Duke a bacon sandwich but he asked what healthy food have we got because he said he's not allowed to eat it, but he picked up a packet of prawn cocktail crisps."

Before leaving the Queen unveiled a plaque to mark the official opening of the new facility.

Earlier in the day the mysteries of conception were explained to the Queen when she toured a world leading research institute dubbed the "Nobel Prize factory". Peering down a powerful microscope to look at minute mice eggs, the Queen appeared fascinated as scientists explained their work trying to discover why some women trying to conceive produce abnormal eggs. Around 10 perfectly circular mice eggs had been readied for viewing by Dr Melina Schuh and her team from the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, on the same campus site as the hospital.

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