Kate’s Video Calls: A Virtual Visit With Parents of Newborn & Midwives (UPDATED)

Kensington Palace has released portions of video calls the Duchess has been taking part in.

In one video, Kate spoke with parents Rebecca Attwood and John Gill as their newborn baby, Max, was nearby.

Kate can be heard saying, “Hello! Very nice to meet you! This is definitely a first, I think!”

More on how things transpired from Emily Nash’s Hello! article: 

From her Anmer Hall home in Norfolk, she watched as Sam Frewin, Lead Midwife Birth Centre & Better Births, put on an apron and mask before taking the laptop in to introduce her to the new family. “I’m smiling, can you tell?” joked Sam. “With your eyes, I can,” laughed Kate.

The Standard reports that “when she was told the infant had been born the night before, the royal said: ‘My goodness, you must be exhausted.'”  Rebecca’s reaction to all of the goings-on?

Rebecca also said, “Our experience was that all the midwives made it as normal as possible – apart from the masks, it was exactly the same as when we had our first son Rafe, in 2015. The midwives at Kingston were amazing on both occasions.”

You may recall Kate spent two days at the Kingston Maternity Hospital in November. 

She also accompanied community midwives on home visits as part of her November training. Below, the Duchess with Kingston staff.

In her Town and Country piece, Victoria Murphy reports: “…since the lockdown began, she has been speaking with parents, midwives, and experts to hear about the unique challenges that pregnant women, new mothers, and their families are currently facing.” More on this call from Simon Perry’s People story: 

Are you very aware of a difference, or a shift in a mother’s emotional and mental wellbeing in comparison to before the pandemic?” she asked.

She was told there was “a lot more anxiety” because of the situation. “Do they know where to go to get the right support particularly for emotional and mental wellbeing?” Kate asked.

And she praised the staff for keeping working through the challenging weeks. “Babies come all the time so that fact that you’re having to work in these difficult times, so well done.”

Below, a screengrab of another call the Duchess did, this one a roundtable discussion with experts in the maternal mental health field.

The calls are in advance of the UK’s Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week starting tomorrow and running through the 10th, designed to create awareness of maternal mental health.

The awareness week is a project of the Perinatal Mental Health Partnership and it is a grassroots effort run without any funding.  From the organization’s Facebook page: 

…the week has grown from a little idea to something that is now celebrated annually in the UK and beyond.

We all remember what it was like to be unwell . To wonder if recovery is possible, to think about how to access help and support.

We truly hope you find the week to be a source of help and support and of comfort.

Let’s Support Mums During Difficult Times.

2020 is also the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife.  

In the first video we saw, the Duchess wore a sweater by Tabitha Webb.

It was the brand’s ‘Jessie’ Knit in Blue and White Chevron (£275, about $345 at today’s exchange rates) with thanks to Laura (@Japanese_Ginger on Twitter) for her very speedy ID. 

The sweater is a blend of 70% wool/30% cashmere and available for pre-order with up a four-week delivery window. 

It looked like Kate was wearing the Daniella Draper hoops first seen in Ireland (minus the shamrock charms), as she did in March for the London Ambulance engagement.

For the roundtable discussion, Kate appeared to be wearing a Boden dress, the British brand’s Aurora Midi Wrap Dress in heron blue. 

The dress is made of a crinkly-textured viscose in a wrap-style design with three-quarter sleeves, gathers at the shoulders, a back yoke, self-belt that ties at the waist, a tiered skirt, and a length that hits mid-calf according to the product details. It is no longer available.  Thank you to The Royal Ladies for pointing out it was this dress.  The dress was first noted in a photo used for one of last year’s Christmas cards.

Kate’s earrings on this call look like a new pair and they are UFO.  

UPDATE MONDAY MAY 4: Nicki suggests in a comment the earrings are the Panther and Rose Quartz Cabochon style ($2078 CAD, roughly $1475 at today’s exchange rates) from New Wave Jewellery. 

New Wave Jewellery is a family-run business based in Ontario, Canada, started more than thirty years ago. It specializes in unique designs created using only 18k gold. I have contacted the firm to see if they can verify the earrings are the pair Kate is wearing.  

UPDATE 2 MONDAY MAY 4: Martina suggests another possibility, the Patrick Mavros Smoky Quartz Earrings ($760). 

This designer makes sense, as the Duchess has worn his designs before on multiple occasions. The only distinction I see is that the tops of her earrings almost look square or diamond-shaped in most photos I have been able to find. But this would certainly be a possibility so I will get an email off to the company shortly. 

UPDATE 3 MONDAY MAY 4: Stephanie shared a photo on the WKW Facebook page in which the earring top appears more round than square, making the Patrick Mavros pair a much more likely candidate. I will update if/when I hear back from the company. Here is the photo Stephanie posted. 

UPDATE 4 TUESDAY MAY 5: After seeing the photo Stephanie shared on Facebook I contacted Patrick Mavros to ask if Kate might have been wearing their earrings. After seeing photos that I emailed they tell me the Duchess was wearing their Ocean Tides Milky Quartz Earrings with 18ct Gold in Silver ($1014).  Below, an updated graphic with more images I pulled from the video and Stephanie’s enlargement. 

Thank you again to Martina for her original comment and Stephanie for the photo enlargement. To me, they look like the Patrick Mavros design.  Hopefully, we will see Kate wearing them again in the not-too-distant future!  

Thank you to all posting such fab suggestions!  

You can see all of the call content here. 

 

LINKAGE: 

• The Perinatal Mental Health Partnership Facebook page is here; the Maternal Mental Health Alliance site is here and Twitter feed here
• Victoria Murphy’s Town and Country piece is here; Emily Nash’s Hello! story about the calls is here; Simon Perry’s People piece is here; The Standard’s article is here; The Daily Mail’s coverage is here