Apostle Rita Korankye Ankrah has said she felt uneasy when she became pregnant with her fourth child at nearly 40, describing the experience as emotionally challenging at the time.
Speaking in an interview with media personality MzGee, the Royal Ladies founder, revealed that she even hid the pregnancy because of how she felt about her age.
“I was almost 40. Who wants to have a child at that age? I felt like a grandmother going to have a child,” she said.
She however, explained that the experience was part of a long and demanding motherhood journey that has seen her raise four biological children and one adopted child.
Recounting her earlier childbirth experiences, Korankye Ankrah disclosed that her first delivery involved hours of intense labour.
“I laboured from 9 p.m. to the next day before delivering,” she said.
Her second childbirth proved even more gruelling.
“That was about 48 hours of labour,” she revealed.
Despite the physical toll, she described motherhood as a deeply transformative experience.
“It is a long journey. Sometimes it can be a lonely journey, sometimes full of mistakes,” she said.
She also recalled a dramatic moment during her third pregnancy, when she drove herself to the hospital while in labour due to a doctors’ strike.
“I knew labour had set in, but I didn’t want to worry my husband, so I drove myself to the hospital,” she recounted.
Beyond her biological children, she shared that she adopted and raised a relative following a family tragedy, adding to her responsibilities as a mother.
Through it all, she emphasised the deep emotional connection between mothers and their children.
“When your children are sick, you are also sick. When they are writing exams, it feels like you are the one writing,” she said.
She added that the bond extends across generations, recalling how she emotionally experienced her daughter’s labour.
“It was like I was the one in labour again,” she said.
Drawing from decades of mentoring women through Royal Ladies, Korankye Ankrah stressed that motherhood requires intentional effort and sacrifice.
“Every mother’s dream is that their children should be better than them. If that doesn’t happen, then something went wrong,” she said.
