Meghan Markle Reveals Her ‘Scary’ Experience with Postpartum Preeclampsia on New Podcast

• Meghan Markle’s new podcast debuted with Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd as her first guest
• The Duchess of Sussex shared that both she and Wolfe Herd experienced postpartum preeclampsia — what Meghan described as a “huge medical scare” that was “so scary”
• “The world doesn’t know what’s happening quietly,” Meghan said in the first episode of Confessions of a Female Founder, as the two discussed the pressures of building businesses while navigating motherhood

Meghan Markle is opening up about the realities of new motherhood — including her experience with postpartum preeclampsia — in the debut episode of her new podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder.

The Duchess of Sussex, 43, launched her new show on Tuesday, April 8 via Lemonada Media, kicking things off with a powerful conversation alongside her first guest and close friend, Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, 35.

As the two discussed the delicate balance of motherhood and career, Meghan revealed that both she and Wolfe Herd experienced postpartum preeclampsia, a rare and potentially life-threatening condition marked by high blood pressure and excess protein in the urine shortly after giving birth, according to the Mayo Clinic.

“We both had very similar experiences — though we didn’t know each other at the time — with postpartum, and we both had preeclampsia. Postpartum preeclampsia,” Meghan shared.

Meghan didn’t clarify whether the condition occurred after the birth of her son, Prince Archie, 5, or her daughter, Princess Lilibet, 3. Wolfe Herd, meanwhile, is a mother to two sons.

“It’s so rare and so scary,” Meghan continued. “And you’re still trying to juggle all of these things, and the world doesn’t know what’s happening quietly. And in the quiet, you’re still trying to show up for people – mostly for your children — but those things are huge medical scares.”

Wolfe Herd agreed, saying: “I mean life or death, truly.”

The Bumble founder and CEO recalled Meghan and Prince Harry’s decision to introduce their newborn son, Archie, during a public photocall just two days after his birth in May 2019 — a royal tradition also followed by Princess Diana and Kate Middleton.

“I mean, I’ll never forget the image of you after you delivered Archie, and the whole world was waiting for his debut,” Wolfe Herd said. “I was either just becoming or about to become a new mom, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, how is this woman doing this? How is this woman putting on heels and going and debuting a child in this, you know, beautiful outfit in front of the entire world?'”

“I could barely face a doorbell delivery for takeout food in a robe,” she added, prompting a laugh from Meghan.

Meghan also reflected on balancing work and home life, revealing, “We became moms in the pandemic, post-pandemic culture, where there is so much working from home… I don’t leave the house to go to an office; my office is here.”

“Lili still naps, she gets picked up early and she naps,” she continued. “She only has a half day in preschool. If she wakes up and wants to find me, she knows where to find me, even if my door is closed to the office. She’ll be sitting there on my lap during one of these meetings with a grid of all the executives… I wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t want to miss those moments. I don’t want to miss pickup if I don’t have to. I don’t want to miss drop-off.”

The Duchess of Sussex added, “What I do love the most about having young kids, in this chapter while I’m building [business], is the perspective that it brings because you’re building something while your child’s going through potty training…and both are just as important…It’s like, ‘Great, okay, where’s the Cheerios? Well done.’ And then you’re championing your team 10 minutes later about something that is really high value for the world. In your own world, that’s super high value. And in [Lili’s] world, that’s super high value.”

Wolfe Herd then shares, “Technology is a beautiful tool for parents because you can dial in and be present and do a great job on the call while you sit in the carpool line outside school. Like, why do I need to be at a desk? I have the same mental opinion in a carpool line.”

The Duchess of Sussex and Lemonada Media announced on March 13 that Confessions of a Female Founder would focus on her entrepreneurial journey launching the As ever lifestyle brand (which sold out its first batch of products last week) and feature candid conversations with fellow female founders over eight episodes.

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In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Meghan shared how other female founders have inspired her on her entrepreneurial journey.

“What’s been meaningful is being able to talk about my own entrepreneurial journey with other female founders who are either on their own trajectory of growth or have IPO’d, sold, or created high-impact brands and gone through all of the learning curves that we all do at the start,” the Duchess of Sussex said.

“You’re just trying to figure out how to walk, then you want to learn how to run, and then you want to learn how to fly. All of those things take time. There’s also something very exciting and energizing about learning something new as we get older,” she continued. “The entrepreneurial journey, for anyone, is a lot, and I’m also really, really lucky that so many of my close friends are female founders that I can glean advice from.”

Meghan wrote in a March 13 Instagram post, “I’ve been having candid conversations with amazing women who have turned dreams into realities, and scaled small ideas into massively successful businesses. They’re opening up, sharing their tips, tricks (and tumbles), and letting me pick their brains as I build out my own business, As ever. It has been absolutely eye-opening, inspiring…and fun! (Because what’s the point if we can’t have some fun on this wild adventure?)”

The new podcast is Meghan’s first project since she announced her partnership with Lemonada Media in Feb. 2024, after she and Prince Harry parted ways with Spotify.​

Confessions of a Female Founder marks Meghan’s second show as a podcast host, following Archetypes, which aired in 2022. Archetypes — which welcomed guests like Mindy Kaling, Paris Hilton and Mariah Carey to debunk stereotypes surrounding women — topped Spotify’s international charts and won a People’s Choice Award.