‘I couldn’t hold my baby’ reveals Strictly Janette Manrara as she opens up about birth of ‘miracle’ daughter

STRICTLY star Janette Manrara has revealed that she struggled to hold her baby as she opened up about the birth of her 'miracle' daughter.

The 40-year-old and husband Aljaž Škorjanec, 34, welcomed Lyra into the world in July last year.

3

3

The happy couple announced their news in February 2023, after a two-year struggle to get pregnant.

In a recent chat the It Takes Two host spoke out about her "hard" experience with giving birth.

Chatting on the Mirror's Invite Only podcast, Janette said: “It was hard as a C-section, it’s a long recovery.

"I couldn’t carry Lyra as much as I wanted to. That was really hard for me emotionally.

"It’s weird because you’ve carried this baby in your belly for nine months – you feel so connected to it...

"Then she’s born, and in the hospital you’re dealing with stitches, you’re dealing with all the drugs in your body."

The dancer thought that she would be fine when she got home, but really struggled to hold her baby girl.

She added: "I just thought ‘How can I not hold my baby now? I’ve just done this and now I can’t hold her’.

"That was really tough.”

Since welcoming Lyra into the world, Janette has loved sharing her journey into motherhood with fans on social media.

But last month she was blasted by fans for what they deemed to be a "dangerous parenting move."

The new mum shared a sweet pic of her girl in a snowsuit strapped up in a car seat.

One fan was quick to write: "Super cute. But yes loose the bulky snowsuit and tighten the straps."

 second put: "She's gorgeous but please be careful putting her in a thick snowsuit/coat in a car seat. Because of the safety."

A third follower then wrote: "She's beautiful, but please don't put Lyra in a car seat with a fluffy coat/snowsuit it can be dangerous if there's an accident as the straps won't be as tight."

Janette, clearly aware of the trolling, took to the comments section to defend herself, and wrote: "Thank you for the concern.

"The straps were tight on her although it does not look like it in the picture, and we were getting out of the car quickly as it was a short trip so no risk of overheating."

Back in October Sara Davies shared that she gave pal Janette some tough love when she saw her struggling with mum guilt.

Sara told the Express: "Janette started doing a couple of days back at work for It Takes Two and Morning Live and from one working mam to another, I was watching her Instagram Story and I could see she was really struggling.

"It’s the excitement of the first morning of being away from home and being away from the baby and you get the feeling that you've got your life back a little bit, a bit of the old you.

"Then a few hours later it will creep in, the guilt of not being there and spreading yourself too thin trying to be in two places at once.

"So, I gave her a right good telling about there's no place for mum guilt. It's brilliant that she's going to be a working mam and she’s going to be a fantastic mother and have a wonderful career."

It came after Janette received some backlash for returning to work after a short maternity leave, 

3