Tracy Beaker's Dani Harmer reveals being in labour for five days with first child

, best known for her role as the iconic Tracy Beaker, has opened up about the traumatic birth of her first child - revealing she was in labour for five days before getting an emergency caesarean-section. She spoke about the experience to on weekday show Vanessa, where she admitted that the experience left her fearing for her life.

She told the show host: "I was in labour for five days. I then had to have an emergency C-section, which was really, really scary." Dani added that while the ordeal is a bit of a blur to her now because of the medication she was on while giving birth, the emotional toll it took affected her for a long time.

Dani shared: "I don’t remember much of it because I was drugged up on a lot of different things, but it was an experience I really didn’t want to have to repeat. So when we fell pregnant with my second, I really wanted to go for an elective caesarean."

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Although she originally had a firm stance on wanting to deliver via operation, Dani said she faced pressure to try and give birth naturally the second time around.

At the time she hit back, saying: "Unless you can guarantee me that I’m going to give birth naturally, one hundred per cent, then otherwise I will want an elective one."

The traumatised actress added: "If I think back to that first birth, I can almost cry about it, and it took a really long time to get over it." Dani, now 36, shot to fame in the early 2000s playing fiery schoolgirl Tracy Beaker. She later reprised that role on various spin-offs, including Tracy Beaker Returns, The Beaker Girls and most recently, The Dumping Ground.

She made her directorial debut on the last series, which is a challenge she decided to embrace after shadowing directors on set. While speaking to the about her return to the franchise, Dani said: "It is so good to be back and making a cameo as Tracy, she’s been a part of my life for over 20 years now, but I’d quite happily play her forever!"

Off-screen, Dani is also a devoted mum of two. Her daughter, Avarie-Belle, now eight, has mixed feelings about her mum’s famous role.

While she is a fan of Jacqueline Wilson’s books and spin-off shows like The Dumping Ground, she wasn’t exactly blown away by the original Tracy Beaker show.

Dani laughingly recalled: "I tried to show her a bit of Tracy Beaker, but she was like, ‘Mum, this is really boring.’ I was like, ‘How dare you!’ Hopefully, she’ll sit down and watch the OG series one day."

On top of acting, Dani runs the Dani Harmer Academy, which is a LAMDA certified performing arts school that helps aspiring actors build confidence on and off screen.

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