Perrie Edwards has lived much of her adult life in the spotlight; selling out arenas, topping global charts, and inspiring millions as part of Little Mix. But this week, the pop star revealed a private pain few fans knew about: the devastating loss of her baby halfway through pregnancy. The 32-year-old singer described the day a routine scan showed her baby no longer had a heartbeat.
“It was the worst day of my life,” Edwards said, her voice breaking. “I remember sobbing. I couldn’t see straight. I was just distraught. We basically lost the baby at, like, 24 weeks.”
Her fiancé, former Liverpool and England footballer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, sat beside her in the hospital room. “The news only sank in when he put his hand on my leg and went, ‘Oh no,’” she recalled. “That’s when it hit me.”
Edwards described the moment as surreal, as if she was watching someone else’s life unravel. “It felt like an out-of-body experience,” she said. The trauma left her reeling, but she has found comfort in the words of fellow musician Myleene Klass, who has spoken publicly about her own miscarriages. Klass once said that when you lose a baby, “the baby stays with you.” Edwards calls that idea “magical” and says it gives her hope.
This was not her first loss. Edwards revealed she had miscarried very early in her first pregnancy, before welcoming her son Axel in August 2021. Axel, now almost four, is her “rainbow baby” (a child born after previous loss.)
“I think when you’re fully carrying and you’re 24 weeks and you’ve planned out their room and all these things, it’s really hard,” she said. “I’ve never spoken about it before because I ended up a wreck.”
Edwards’ story is heartbreakingly common. In the UK, one in five pregnancies end in miscarriage, according to health data. Advocates say the care women receive afterwards can vary sharply from hospital to hospital, sometimes compassionate, sometimes leaving families feeling abandoned.
A government pilot program launched in 2024 aims to change that, promising medical intervention for women after every miscarriage. Campaigners hope the policy will ease both the physical and emotional fallout of pregnancy loss.
Edwards rose to fame in 2011 with Little Mix, the girl group formed on The X Factor. Over the next decade, they sold more than 75 million records, earned a Brit Award for Best British Group, and became one of the most successful girl bands in history.
For Edwards, who once sang to millions on stage, speaking now is about something quieter but just as powerful: connection.
“If I’m blessed enough to have another baby in the future,” she said softly, “it makes me feel that [my lost babies] are still a part of it in some way.”
