Rebecca Lim nervous about pregnancy, opens up about 'scary instances' with pain and bleeding

Joanne Soh
The Straits Times
Sept 12, 2023

Congratulations are in order for Singaporean actress Rebecca Lim.

The 36-year-old is 4½ months pregnant with her first child, due in early 2024 before Chinese New Year, which will fall on Feb 10.

She announced the happy news on her Instagram account on Tuesday, posting a photo of herself sporting a visible baby bump and her husband Matthew Webster, also 36, hugging her from the back.

The Mediacorp star wrote: “We’re having a baby. So excited, nervous and feeling a roller coaster of emotions for this new chapter of our lives. Thank you for allowing us to share our joy with you. We can’t wait to meet our little precious one.”

Her next project is, ironically, a local horror thriller titled Confinement, about a first-time mother who begins experiencing strange things when her confinement nanny (played by local actress Cynthia Koh) moves in to take care of her newborn. Directed by acclaimed Singaporean film-maker Kelvin Tong, the film opens in Singapore cinemas on Oct 19.

“The timing is uncanny, isn’t it?” Lim told The Straits Times in a phone interview on Tuesday.

She acknowledged that many have advised her against watching her own film when it is eventually screened. According to myths relating to pregnancy, expectant mothers are often advised against watching scary thrillers or horror movies.

“I’m still going to watch it even though I’ll be heavily pregnant then. I’ve put in months of hard work into the filming. I’m not going to miss it,” she said, adding that she generally shies away from the horror genre.

“Confinement is more of a psychological thriller than a horror film. Also, I already know what’s going to happen, so I’m prepared for it.”

She added: “Everything is happening at a perfect time. Becoming a mother and finally a starring role in a movie. It’s a double dream coming true.”

Lim may not fear the disturbing things that happen to her on the big screen, but admitted that she is feeling anxious in real life.

“I’m actually nervous about the pregnancy. What kind of mother will I be? What kind of child will my baby be? The future is so uncertain. My lifestyle has already changed,” she said, laughing.

She had to learn to be still and not do too many things herself – adjustments the independent artiste found challenging.

“My first trimester was difficult, and there were some scary instances when the pregnancy was unstable,” said Lim, who is now in her second trimester but faced pain and bleeding earlier.

She said her age could be a factor that caused the first few months to be tough.

“Perhaps I was also doing a lot of things on my own, so my gynaecologist told me to be careful and rest as much as possible.

“So I’ve been lying and sitting down whenever I can. This is the stillest I’ve ever been,” she said.

Apart from taking slow walks in the evening and doing some stretching, she has been advised to “slow things down” workwise too.

She is up for the Best Leading Actress award for her work in the English-language drama Third Rail (2022) at the Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards, which will be held in Busan, South Korea, on Oct 8.

Other nominees in the category include Hollywood star Zoe Saldana for thriller series Special Ops: Lioness (2023) and South Korean actress Song Hye-kyo for her performance in the K-drama The Glory (2023).

Lim said her husband has been a great supporter so far.

She married Mr Webster – a Singaporean of British-Chinese descent who is assistant vice-president of corporate branding at PSA Singapore – at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore in November 2022, a year after he proposed.

“Matt is so sweet. He’s always there, especially when the cravings hit.”

Her cravings, thankfully, have been very simple and “Asian”.

“I just wanted rice,” she said. “Simple white rice with fried egg and soya sauce, but I need that a lot,” she said with a laugh, adding that she would crave rice every two hours.

She recalled having a “very random” craving once, and that was for her mother’s home-cooked mee soto. “It has to be only my mum’s. I bought mee soto from the hawker centre but it wasn’t the same. I just was not satisfied.”

While the couple and their loved ones now rejoice over the happy news, their emotions were mixed when Lim first found out she was pregnant.

“The family was still grieving as my dad had just passed away,” she said.

Her father, Mr Larry Lim, died at the age of 68 on May 22.

The actress confided only in her younger sister as her mother “was not in an ideal state of mind” then.

She finally told her mother two weeks later after getting a confirmation from her gynaecologist. “The good news brought her a lot of comfort, and for us too.”

Lim added that there were moments when she wished her father was still around to see his new grandchild, but she took comfort in feeling that he “somehow knew that I was going to be a mother”.

The parents-to-be intend to do a gender reveal gathering with their families when they move into their new home in October.

“We have the baby’s gender in a white envelope, and the temptation to open it is so great. We are fighting it every day,” she said. “Who knows? We may end up revealing if we are having a boy or girl any time soon.”