Kate Middleton and Prince William both felt "big pressure" when it came to naming their three children.
The Princess of Wales toured the Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford on Wednesday as she was told about the support provided to pregnant women and new mothers.
Kate held a “sweet” premature baby in her arms on the solo visit to the maternity unit, and later told staff about her own parenting struggles.
She opened up about the daunting decisions when it came to naming George, 9, Charlotte, 7 and four-year-old Louis.
One of the hospital's directors says that Kate drew from her own experience while sharing stories, including the challenging process of deciding what to call the royal children.
Kate launched the Centre for Early Childhood in 2021, embarking on her long-term mission of helping children and families.
Amy Stubbs, deputy director of midwifery, was thrilled by the visit as Kate continues to advocate for greater awareness of the importance of early childhood development.
She told PEOPLE : "She just really talked about her own children including how they chose their names.
"A lot of the new mums and dads are thinking about how to choose names for their babies, and they spoke with her about how Kate and William made their choice .
"She said they were their favourite names and that obviously the world was waiting for them to name their children — and that felt like quite a big pressure!
"She spent a lot of time talking to a lot of the staff and meeting mums and dads and new babies across the whole service - it was a really joyful for everyone to have that opportunity and hugely validating for us as a service."
The royal's visit overran by at least half an hour after she stopped to speak to hundreds of members of staff and the public, reminisced about her own three babies, particularly doting on their scrunched up newborn days and tiny fingernails.
She joked that she still considered Prince Louis her baby, until she saw a real infant and remembered he is without doubt a "big boy now".
"It just feels like yesterday," she said.
She also spent time on a postnatal ward with four babies who had been born in the last 24 hours, asking parents how they were coping.
Hearing about some of the "eventful" births, she empathised: "No matter how much everyone tells you what you expect, it's a shock to the system isn't it?
"You have this idea of what will happen but every single birth is different."
