Marlow & Me! Besotted Sam's Love Haze

Baby couldn’t have come at a better time

- Sophie Neville

Only 12 months ago, newsreader Sam Hayes was agonising over whether to join her long-distance love in the Andes for the challenge of a lifetime. Climbing one of the highest peaks in the world hadn’t been on her to-do list, but she summoned her courage and took the leap.

And as she cradles her perfect baby boy in her arms with her Dutch partner Jeroen “Jay” Blaauw at her side, the Newshub star tells us there’s no doubt that taking on the formidable Mt Aconcagua in January was the best decision she’s ever made.

“Saying ‘yes’ changed my life in a way I could never have imagined,” she gushes. “It brought us closer together and resulted in the most beautiful thing that’s ever happened to me – little baby Marlow. If I hadn’t climbed that mountain, life would be very different.”

Born at 8.38pm on September 19, Marlow has settled beautifully into life at home with his doting parents, who say he’s a calm and content little fellow who loves feeding and sleeping.

He might be placid now, but his arrival was a slightly more dramatic story, after Sam, 35, developed preeclampsia towards the end of her pregnancy. Marked by high blood pressure, the condition can be very serious and requires close monitoring of both mother and baby.

For Sam, it was a worrying time, and she recalls fighting back the tears on her final day of work after being told the diagnosis earlier that morning.

“I’m usually a pretty relaxed, take-life-as-it-comes kind of person, but this was concerning and I was feeling quite emotional,” she recalls. “I was sad about finishing up at work, but mainly worrying about whether everything was going to be OK with my baby. I cried on and off all day – even on air when Mike [McRoberts] farewelled me with a big bunch of flowers!”