Louise Thompson credits the NHS after spending five weeks in hospital

Louise Thompson has praised the National Health Service after spending almost five weeks in hospital following the birth of her first child, but admits her Christmas was ruined after two family members tested positive for COVID-19. 

The former Made In Chelsea star, 31, confirmed the birth of son Leo-Hunter with fiancé Ryan Libbey on Thursday after suffering ‘serious complications’ while in labour that left her in intensive care. 

Taking to Instagram, Louise shared a photo of herself wearing a protective face-mask while sat in a wheelchair during her hospital stay.  

Captioning the photo, the TV personality admitted she wanted to thank the NHS staff who cared for her in person, but was prevented from doing so because of ongoing COVID restrictions. 

Her own plan to spend her first Christmas as a mother with loved ones was also scuppered after two family members tested positive for the respiratory virus. 

She wrote: ‘We all did Covid tests ahead of Christmas Day because a few of our family members are particularly vulnerable (myself included) and it turns out that two people were positive so our plans have been scuppered.

‘It certainly wasn’t the Christmas that we had planned, but then again neither were the last three and I’m still feeling overwhelmingly blessed to be at home and in my little bubble.

‘My experience has got me thinking a lot about this time of the year, especially thinking about all those people that work on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Eve etc. Those are days that most people spend celebrating at home with friends/family/loved ones, but others make a sacrifice for the greater good.’ 

She added: ‘It is a necessary sacrifice, but not everyone could do it. A 12 hour shift all through the day or night is admirable on a regular day, let alone on Christmas Day or tonight. 

‘I guess I think about it a lot more now because I know and care about a bunch of the ladies who have committed to working today but also because one of my ongoing fears is ending up in the back of an ambulance on an evening where they might be short staffed. Honestly where would we be without the NHS? I know where I would be.’   

Revealing the intention to meet her nurses in person, she wrote: ‘I had actually planned to go into the hospital this morning to give out some cards and a few small gifts to the amazing ladies who looked after me when I was in there (i became pretty close to a few of them) and I know exactly where they will all be, but I messaged ahead to ask and sadly I’ve been told it’s not safe for me to go in right now.

‘I will find a way to say thank you soon. (This photo was taken by one of the girls who kindly wheeled me up to the sky garden when I was able to move for the first time in ages – i cried buckets).

‘For now I want to say a big thank you to anyone who happens to be reading this who works for our NHS.

‘I want to thank the room full of people who worked through the night to save my life. Many of them were called in from their family homes at an unearthly hour.

I met a lot of people with A LOT of different roles and every single person is a crucial part in the cog.’     

Louise previously  shared the first picture of her adorable son on her page and admitted ‘it wasn’t easy’ to explain what has happened to her in recent weeks.

The reality star had announced that she was taking a break from social media on November 14, ahead of the birth, but had since been silent on Instagram up until now. 

The reality personality, wrote: ‘Hello everyone, this post isn’t an easy one for me to write. I have so many things that I want to say but at the same time I’m struggling to find the words to explain what has happened to me and my family so for now I will keep it quite simple.

‘The reason I have been absent for weeks is because I have been very unwell.

‘5 weeks ago I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy Leo-Hunter Libbey weighing in at 7lbs. Unfortunately it wasn’t the easiest start for either of us. One ended up in NICU and the other ended up in ICU.

Reassuring her followers that Leo was not unwell for long, Louise said: ‘Whilst Leo made a fairly quick recovery. I have been recovering in hospital for a month with various serious complications.’ 

Louise, who was recently involved in a house fire at her mother’s house which meant she had nowhere to live while heavily pregnant, said that the two incidents have meant she how has a new outlook on life.

‘In all honesty I never imagined that so many bad things could happen to me, but to dance with death twice brings a whole new view of the world – a stark reminder of how short and sacred life really is.

‘We need to start living, we need to start loving, we need to start enjoying every minute detail in life (certainly easier said than done when you’re stuck in mental and/or physical purgatory or dealing with serious illness, depression or the fear of the unknown), but if you DO have the capacity, then try and cling onto any nuggets of good… and please please please be grateful for good health. The hard truth is that you don’t know how lucky you are to have it until it’s too late.’

Going on to reveal she is seeking psychological support following the trauma, Louise said: ‘The reality is that I am in a bit of a strange place mentally and physically and I might be for a while, but that’s just part of the me now and part of my recovery. 

‘It’s not going to be easy or linear but thankfully I am being offered some very valuable psychological help and the good news is that I’m starting to experience some good hours as well as bad ones. (Sometimes living hour by hour is your only option).’

Concluding by saying that things are on the up, Louise said: ‘I want to finish with some happy news… ‘I have been given the green light and been discharged from hospital which means that i’m able to recover from the comfort of my own home for Christmas. For the first time in a month I actually see a future where I get to live peacefully on this earth with my son.

‘I can’t wait to start our new journey together as a family of 3 and to start bonding little baby Leo.’ 

She concluded: ‘A massive thank you to everyone who has kept us in their thoughts and prayers. It is working.  More thank yous to follow. I’m too overwhelmed and a bit scared right now. 

‘But I did want to send a prayer out to anyone who is also suffering and who might need love too. Life can be cruel and Christmas can be hard. It’s a good time to remember those less fortunate…there are a lot of them. I’ve seen it.’

Louise’s partner Ryan, 31, has yet to announce the birth of their little boy on his Instagram, however he has since updated his bio to read: ‘daddy’.

Louise and Ryan received an influx of support from their friends and followers in the comments section of the post after sharing the news.

Influencer Hattie Bourn, wrote: ‘He is perfect. Sending you so much love and strength. You’ve got this mama.’

TOWIE star Georgia Kousoulou, said: ‘Sending you so much love. And congratulations he is beautiful.’

Jessica Wright said: ‘Congratulations Louise & sending so much love & strength to you right now. Leo looks amazing.’

While, Pete Wicks penned: ‘Sending love to you, Ryan and the baby.’

Ferne McCann said: ‘Sending so much love and strength my darling. Praying by for you. Congratulations on Leo. He looks so perfect.’

After seeing some of the messages, Louise wrote: ‘A massive thank you to everyone who has kept us in their thoughts and prayers. It is working.

‘More thank yous to follow. I am a bit overwhelemed and scared right now.

‘But I did want to send a prayer out to anyone who is also suffering and might need love too. Life can be cruel and Christmas can be hard.  

‘It’s a good time to remember those less fortunate, there are a lot of them. I’ve seen it.’

It hasn’t been an easy few months for the media personality, who revealed she had ‘basically lived out of a car’ since being involved in the devastating house fire.  

In October, Louise admitted she had been experiencing ‘a bit of social anxiety’, and detailed how tough things have been since the crisis, which also concerned her mum, her fiancé and their dogs. 

Arms around her beloved pooches Koji and Toto, the Made In Chelsea star began her update by listing those she is thankful for.

‘fire officers, nhs staff, neighbours, family members, old friends, new friends, instagram friends who I hardly know, my wonderful agency, brands I work with, the lady working behind the counter in the shop, my business partners, work colleagues, fitness clients, the lady in the park this morning, strangers on the street…

‘Thank you for your incredible support,’ she wrote. 

She continued: ‘I have to say I am totally overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity that people offer up when trying to help someone get through a crisis. 

‘I have had messages from people that I’ve met ONCE offer up their best friends, cousins, dogs, ex girlfriends, dads house in order to try to help. It means a lot – I feel incredibly lucky and I wish everyone could be this lucky.’

Louise was staying with her mother Karen at the time of the fire, while renovations were done on her South West London home. 

Of her current living situation, she said: ‘We’ve moved in and out of 4 different hotel/hostels over the past week and basically lived out of a car and the truth is that it’s been really tough – one of the hardest things to deal with has been the total lack of security and privacy. 

‘I’m experiencing a bit of social anxiety atm and sometimes I just want to hide away and not have to come into contact with other humans. You can’t do that when you’re nomadic.’

Louise is no stranger to showcasing her love for her furry friends and also gave fans an update on how they’re doing.

‘The other thing (which was arguably even harder) was having to spend 5 days/nights without the dogs, who are basically my children. Sadly they aren’t welcome everywhere and they just take so much looking after which we couldn’t do from the car. 

‘I was so paranoid that they would be heavily traumatised by the incident because they got lost in the smoke before being rescued by ryan but thankfully they seem to be ok and they have been impeccably looked after by scott, sam and zara. A million thank yous,’ she remarked. 

Remaining optimistic, Louise said: ‘I had no idea how hard it was to find somewhere to stay on a short term basis (sadly my mums house will take YONKS to restore), so now we’re just keeping our fingers and toes crossed for our own project.   

‘Thankfully we have found a temporary solution which means that me, ryan, bump, koji and toto can camp out under one roof [sic] hopefully until the baby is born if needs be.’

She gave a special mention to Ryan, who she is expecting her first child with: ‘Thanks for minimising all stress @ryan.libbey u da man! I’d be screwed without you.’

Earlier on in the day, the mum-to-be, who is in her third trimester, put on a brave face as she told fans she was preparing for the chance of an early arrival.  

‘Off to go and scoop up our pram from my agents office. It was delivered there last week during the chaos. 

‘Trying to make sure we have everything lined up incase we have an early arrival. With our current run of luck anything is possible,’ she said.