Ashley James to have surgery amid 'humiliating' incontinence battle
Former Made in Chelsea star Ashley James is to undergo surgery amid suffering from urinary and faecal incontinence for nearly six years, following the "traumatic" birth of her son Alfie.
Ashley James is to undergo surgery amid suffering from urinary and faecal incontinence for nearly six years.
The former Made in Chelsea star, 39, has son Alfie, five, and three-year-old daughter Ada, with her partner Tommy Andrews, but ever since the "traumatic" birth of her boy in January 2021 she has suffered from incontinence.
Ashley has kept quiet about the medical condition for years, and she assumed most mothers are affected but thought they weren't speaking openly about the condition because it is "really embarrassing and humiliating".
However, she has decided to speak out to raise awareness.
Speaking on This Morning, she said: "When you experience something like incontinence, you have to plan your days and evenings around this physical thing that nobody on the outside really sees but you know can happen.
"I try not to feel shame or embarrassment around it.
"The reason we are so shamed into silence, it doesn’t help anybody, it doesn’t help women.
"And it is something where you feel you’re the only person going through it, or you’re embarrassed.
"I think because of so much secrecy and mystery around birth, I just assumed, in the ‘mother and baby doing fine’ that maybe everyone goes through this but no one talks about it because it’s really embarrassing and humiliating."
Ashley is now planning to have surgery to deal with her double incontinence.
She added: "For anyone that experiences incontinence, it’s not something you have to put up with.
"And I will have to have surgery."
Ashley's comments come after she revealed last weekend she travelled to Paris with Tommy, but she accidentally left her incontinence pads on the Eurostar.
She wrote on Instagram: "INCONTINENCE IN PARIS
Took Tommy to see Céline Dion in Paris for his birthday, with a little side of humiliation
I shared this on my Stories this weekend and was actually blown away by the response, and it reminded me how important it is to speak about these things. So here we go, a little bit of Sunday evening TMI
Lots of you will know that since having Alf I’ve lived with various birth complications, and one of them is incontinence.
Anyway, I managed to leave my wash bag on the Eurostar, which had my Tena pads in it, so there I was having to send Tommy out in Paris to buy me some more. Half the Champs-Elysees was closed because of the Pope, but off he went, eventually returning not with pads, but Tena PANTS Needs must.
And honestly, no matter how glam I may look sometimes, there’s something very humbling about the reality of pulling on your Tena pants
I’m so grateful to have a partner who has never made me feel embarrassed about any of it, but also, that should be the bar. I have these birth injuries because I gave birth to our children, and so many of us live with birth injuries, with nowhere near enough postpartum care, while somehow being made to feel like the consequences are embarrassing or a failure on our part.
They’re not. Our bodies go through huge, sometimes permanent sacrifices to bring children into the world, and we deserve support, not shame.
My DMs were FULL of women saying “me too”, with so many of you saying it feels like a dirty secret, and actually all of your messages reminded me there really is no shame
I’m still doing my pelvic floor training, still putting off the surgery, but in the meantime I’m not letting it stop me living my life.
And CÉLINE I used to buy her music scores when I was little and having singing lessons, so seeing her was emotional anyway, but after watching the documentary and knowing what she’s gone through to get back on stage, and seeing how emotional she was to be there too... honestly It was just SO special and one of those nights I know I’ll always remember.
What a bloody weekend - oh and I got my washbag back! (sic)"
