Meghan Markle has opened up about a "rare" and "scary" health battle she faced shortly after giving birth. The Duchess of Sussex, 43, revealed in the first episode of her podcast ‘Confessions of a Female Founder’ that she suffered postpartum preeclampsia. This is a rare condition that occurs when women have high blood pressure, along with excess protein in their urine soon after childbirth.

Speaking on the podcast to her friend and Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, 35, Meghan said: "We both had very similar experiences — though we didn't know each other at the time — with postpartum, and we both had preeclampsia. Postpartum preeclampsia. It’s so rare and so scary."

The duchess continued: "And you're still trying to juggle all of these things, and the world doesn't know what's happening quietly. And in the quiet, you're still trying to show up for people – mostly for your children — but those things are huge medical scares."

Whitney then said: "I mean life or death, truly."

It is not known whether the duchess suffered with these conditions after the birth of Prince Archie, who is now five, or Princess Lilibet, three.

Meghan did not talk about the symptoms she experienced with the illness, however according to the NHS symptoms can include headaches, pain and vomiting.

The duchess also spoke about Princess Lilibet in the new podcast as she revealed that her daughter still spends a lot of time at home as well as pre-school.

Meghan shared: "She'll be sitting there on my lap during one of these meetings with a grid of all the executives… I wouldn’t have it any other way.

"I don't want to miss those moments. I don't want to miss pickup if I don’t have to. I don't want to miss drop-off."

The first episode of Meghan's new podcast was released this morning.