Jamelia feels 'blessed' to be a mother-of-four months after giving birth at 42
Of all the roles she has had, Jamelia says motherhood is her favourite – and this Mother’s Day will be extra -special for the singer turned TV star.
The 42-year-old will be celebrating with her four daughters, the youngest of whom, Jream, made her dramatic entrance just four months ago.
Former Loose Women panellist Jamelia says: “I was first pregnant as a 19-year-old, 25 when I had my second, third daughter I was 36 then I had my last daughter at 41, so for most decades of my life I’ve had a baby.
“What I’ve come to know is there is never a right time to have a child. You are never prepared and never going to just float through it. Being a mum is my favourite responsibility and role. It’s such an honour to be a mother of four daughters and I feel so blessed.”
Jamelia with her eldest three daughters (INSTAGRAM)Jamelia had never suffered any complications until her pregnancy with True, five, when her waters broke at 23 weeks – meaning she had to be closely monitored. And it happened again with Jream, at 30 weeks.
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Jamelia, who also developed gestational diabetes and sciatica, adds: “This was also the first time I’d been pregnant since learning of the discrepancy in the mortality rate of black women. I was four times more likely to die in childbirth. That’s a terrifying statistic.”
Jamelia was rushed for an emergency Caesarean at Birmingham Women’s Hospital at 34 weeks, after Jream’s heart rate suddenly dropped.
Daughter Tiana, 17, who she shares with ex-husband Darren Byfield was there with her – but the operation was far from straightforward, especially as Jream was six weeks premature.
She says: “You’re conscious and any mum will tell you, that moment between them getting the baby out and hearing that first cry feels like an hour.”
Jream arrived safely but Jamelia was still in danger – the localised anaesthesia had a strange effect and left her gasping for air.
“I couldn’t breathe,” she recalls.
Jamelia with newborn baby daughter Jream (DAILY MIRROR)
Jamelia performing at the Mobo Awards in 2000 (Getty Images)“I’m trying to alert the doctors, but I can’t breathe. It was scary, traumatic. It took 20 minutes for me to be able to breathe again on my own. But the staff were amazing. They were helping me and helping Tiana remain calm.”
Birmingham-born Jamelia says having an age gap between her two youngest girls and Tiana and Teja, 21, from her relationship with music manager Terry Wallen, is “brilliant for babysitting”. And she is grateful to her own mum, Jamaican Paulette Davis, who raised her on her own in the deprived area of Handsworth. She says: “One of the things I took from how she brought me up was to listen to your kids and let them do what they want to in life.
“I’d never force mine to follow me into the same career. I think my baby may end up being a singer as she is very loud and very vocal, but I don’t push my own hopes and dreams on my children. I just want them to be happy and for me to support them, as that’s how I was raised.”
Jamelia, who competed on Strictly Come Dancing in 2015, had her youngest daughters with the husband she married in 2017 – but has never publicly revealed the identity of.
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And she says of the inspiration for Jream’s unique name: “It’s pronounced Dream but I wanted a J name – after all the others being T names, I wanted one that was a J for me. I had been thinking of names and I kept saying to people, ‘She’s a dream’, which she is. So that’s when it came to me.”
Jamelia is now juggling being a new mum with a TV comeback – returning to Hollyoaks full-time as doctor Sharon Bailey in a special Mother’s Day-themed episode next Monday.
She started filming in January, when Jream was nine weeks old. “If I said it had been a walk in the park, that would be a lie,” she says. “I’ve been pumping milk between breaks and doing it through the night to leave milk at home. That being said, I’ve had a sense of pride that I’ve been getting up and going to work.”
Jamelia's singing has taken a backseat in recent years as she focuses on acting (Redferns)Jamelia first played Sharon in 2021, in a “Black to Front” episode with an all-black cast.
“I think visibility like that is important, not just for black people but all races,” says Jamelia. “For my children, especially the eldest two, something like that makes them feel as if they are seen.”
It was her appearance on Black to Front that made Jamelia want to come back in a more permanent role.
And she has enjoyed catching up with old pal Richard Blackwood, who has played Felix Westwood in the soap since 2020. “My first TV appearance was when I went on Richard’s show on MTV Select when I was 17 or 18,” she says.
“To end up working with him 20-odd years later is incredible.”
One of the UK’s top R’n’B acts in the noughties, Jamelia is also looking forward to singing live for the first time since the pan-demic at London’s Mighty Hoopla festival in June.
She says: “I can’t wait to go back on stage. I don’t have any plans to go back in the studio. As much as I’d love to, with four kids and the new job, that’s more than enough.” And as she prepares for her first Mother’s Day as a mum-of-four, she says she just feels blessed she and Jream are both here and well.
She adds: “This Mother’s day is so special. I’m not expecting fanfare. I’ve told the girls not to get me anything. The joy is that I will get to see it with my daughter. That we’re both here.
“It was a scary and traumatic time and I’m just happy we both made it through. It really was so touch and go for both of us. So I don’t need flowers or chocolates. I’m just so happy and blessed to be there on Mother’s Day and see my four wonderful daughters.”
* Hollyoaks streams first on All 4 and airs weeknights on E4 and Channel 4.
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