Tennis star Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian has said the birth of their daughter Olympia and the period that followed was 'traumatising'.

Williams had a complicated labour as she suffered a pulmonary embolism which risked her life and meant she had to have an emergency c-section.

Speaking about the events, Ohanian said: "My wife and I... we have means, we run our own careers, we have family, we have literally every advantage we could ask for when a newborn shows up, and yet still it was such a traumatising period."

The 24-time Grand Slam champion had to remain on bed rest for six weeks following the birth, meaning Ohanian had the majority of the parental duties.

"I learnt how to do a diaper and I learnt how to do all these things and just get comfortable with this tiny little person that I was now responsible for," he said.

“I feel a confidence and a calm that is a direct result of having that time early when I had no f***ing clue what was happening. But I figured it out and it worked.”

He has also shed a light on the importance of paternity leave, saying how valuable it was for him that he could take 16 weeks off of work in order to be at home. 

Ohanian is the owner of Reddit and therefore his own boss.

"I couldn’t imagine going through that as a husband and having to decide or even think for a second about choosing between your wife and your career," he added. "That is an inhumane choice to expect someone to make in a modern society.”