Amanda Holden has described how the NHS saved her life after she went into a coma following the birth of her daughter, Hollie.
Amanda Holden describes how she almost died during childbirth
The Britain's Got Talent judge has released her debut single, a version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow, with money raised by the trackgoing to NHS Charities Together, which supports staff and volunteers working on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking on her radio show, Heart Breakfast, she said: "When I gave birth to Hollie, my eight-year-old daughter who I know is listening, she was an emergency and I haemorrhaged, basically, and I actually did pass away for 40 seconds and then I went into a coma, but the NHS were there holding my hand and my husband's hand, who – I feel sorry for him to be honest – he went through, it watching it all."
Holden recorded her version of the song, famously sung by Judy Garland in the 1939 film The Wizard Of Oz, in 2019 and it was due to be released as part of an album this year.
She said she was keen to support the NHS because it has helped her family so many times.
She told the PA news agency: "They've saved my sister's life after she was in a car accident. And, of course, our son, Theo, was born sleeping at an NHS hospital where all the staff were utterly extraordinary and treated us with so much empathy and love."
In 2011, at seven months pregnant with Theo, a scan revealed his heart had stopped.
Holden underwent a Caesarean at West Middlesex University Hospital, where she had trained as a midwife for an ITV documentary called Out Of My Depth in 2009.
Her experience prompted her to set up Theo's Hope, a fund providing bereavement counsellors in maternity units around the UK.
Holden said: "I feel like I owe them so much. I feel like we all owe them a debt now and of course for the future to come.
"Last year, I recorded a version of Over The Rainbow. It's a song I used to sing as a girl with my Nan and Grandad and one I love to sing with my daughters, Lexi and Hollie.
"My album was going to be released just before all of this happened, so it's all on hold, and this was not going to be the first single, so it feels very interesting.
"It's a completely different way to go but it's for charity so we're looking at it in a different way now. It's not for me … it's for the NHS because I owe them everything, I owe them my life."
Holden is also a Marks & Spencer food brand ambassador and has joined the company's All In This Together campaign.
Her single's artwork is inspired by a rainbow T-shirt being designed and sold by M& to raise money for NHS Charities Together.
The rainbow has become a symbol of hope during the pandemic, with children making pictures of them to stick to their windows since schools closed.
– More information can be found at amandaholden.lnk.to/OverTheRainbowPR