Duchess Kate may have made childbirth look easy, leaving the hospital nine hours after delivering Princess Charlotte looking fresh as a daisy. But behind the scenes was a 23-member team of medical professionals, the Telegraph reports. OB-GYN Tiong Ghee Teoh talked to the newspaper about the "huge team" that was in place for both of Kate's deliveries, explaining that for each area of specialty, there was a team ready for "anything that could possibly go wrong." In total, there were two obstetricians, three midwives, three anesthesiologists, one lab tech, four pediatricians, two members of a special care baby unit, four senior managers, and four members of something called a "theater staff."
The team members were on call for three months, another member of the team (one of the backup anesthesiologists) told the Telegraph at a recent royal garden party to which the doctors had been invited as a "thank you," Kensington Palace says. "You never know when you need to be called, you need to be in town, and available," the anesthesiologist says. "If you are at a party you need to have your car keys at the ready. No drinking!" But when the time came for Kate to give birth, not all of them were actually in the room. And both times, the births went without incident, so the backup specialists weren't needed. The members of the team were "hand-picked," and sworn to secrecy about the identities of everyone involved, the doctors say. The Mirror notes that extra supplies of Kate's blood type were also kept on hand, and teams of doctors were prepped at two other hospitals just in case. (More Kate Middleton stories.)