IN AN INTIMATE interview with Vogue for the publication’s September issue, Beyoncé paid tribute to her husband of ten years, Jay-Z, while recalling the physical and emotional impact of her second pregnancy in 2017.

In July 2017, Beyoncé broke world records for the number of likes amassed on an Instagram post when she shared a photo of herself with Rumi and Sir Carter, who had been born one month previously.

However, the photo belied the trauma the performer and her children had undergone just weeks previously – a subject which Beyoncé decided to give readers an insight into while speaking to Vogue recently.

The 36-year-old began by comparing her first and second pregnancy, and admitted that societal pressures caused her to accelerate her post-pregnancy weight loss process the first time around – something she refused to do after giving birth to her twins.

After the birth of my first child, I believed in the things society said about how my body should look. I put pressure on myself to lose all the baby weight in three months, and scheduled a small tour to assure I would do it.

Looking back, that was crazy. I was still breastfeeding when I performed the Revel shows in Atlantic City in 2012. After the twins, I approached things very differently.

In February 2017, Beyonce announced she was expecting twins, and one month prior to their arrival in June, the singer was put on bed rest as she was suffering from toxemia, also known as pre-eclampsia.

A post shared by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on May 21, 2017 at 3:35pm PDT

The mother-of-three went on to explain that her youngest children spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit following their emergency delivery.

I was 218 pounds the day I gave birth to Rumi and Sir. I was swollen from toxemia and had been on bed rest for over a month. My health and my babies’ health were in danger, so I had an emergency C-section.

Paying tribute to the strength Jay-Z displayed during that time, Beyoncé called him a ‘soldier’.

A post shared by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on Jul 2, 2018 at 3:56pm PDT

We spent many weeks in the NICU. My husband was a soldier and such a strong support system for me. I am proud to have been a witness to his strength and evolution as a man, a best friend, and a father.

Beyoncé went on to admit that she had a delayed reaction to her childrens’ ill-health, explaining that it was months before she could process the trauma of the previous months.

I was in survival mode and did not grasp it all until months later. Today I have a connection to any parent who has been through such an experience.

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