Celeb Talk: Birth Methods

There is a growing number of American women who are requesting delivery by elective cesarean section. Is this trend due in part to celebrities such as Victoria Beckham, Britney Spears, Claudia Schiffer and Christina Aguilera?

The media has dubbed the movement ‘too posh to push,’ after Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper’s Spice Girl mama Victoria Beckham. The British beauty, like some of the other celebrity moms in question, claimed that her C-sections were under doctors’ orders. But were they simply trying to avoid abdominal stretching? Or the pain of natural childbirth?

We are in no way suggesting that c-sections are bad (they are lifesaving, when medically necessary). Its nice to see that some celebs are still doing it “the old fashioned way,” some are taking advantage of medical advances and all are showing the world that women can be strong in more ways than one!

Check out this list of who’s gone natural and who’s gone under the knife!

 

 

So who went for a natural birth?

 

Beyonc

New parents Beyonc , 30, and Jay-Z, 42, are “in heaven” with baby Blue! After their daughter arrived on January 7, The superstar couple released a statement, shattering rumors that the little girl was delivered via C-section.

“Hello Hello Baby Blue!” they stated. “We are happy to announce the arrival of our beautiful daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, born on Saturday, January 7, 2012. Her birth was emotional and extremely peaceful, we are in heaven. She was delivered naturally at a healthy 7 lbs and it was the best experience of both of our lives. We are thankful to everyone for all your prayers, well wishes, love and support.”

 

Gisele B ndchen

One of the most outspoken celebrity moms on natural birth is supermodel Gisele B ndchen. The Victoria’s Secret model gave birth to her first child Benjamin in December 2009 and has openly spoken about her drug-free and pain-free home water birth.

My delivery was in a bath tub, in water,” Gisele said. “I wanted to have a home birth. I wanted to be very aware and present during the birth… I didn’t want to be drugged up. So I did a lot of preparation, I did yoga and meditation, so I managed to have a very tranquil birth at home. It didn’t hurt in the slightest. The whole time my mind was focused in each contraction on the thought my baby is closer to coming out.'”

 

A few weeks later the supermodel looked AMAZING on the cover of Vogue and spoke of her “empowered” birth experience.

I wanted to experience the transformation,” the model mom said. “It was the most amazing experience of my life, feeling him come through my body. And once he was born, I never felt so empowered as looking at him and thinking, Oh, my God, we did it together!”

 

Evangeline Lilly

Lost star Evangeline Lilly welcomed son Kahekili Kali in May 2011 and shared her birth story.

I actually skipped the hospital … We decided to have the baby at home because we wanted it to be a natural birth, and it turns out that it was 30 hours of natural.”

 

Of that 30 hours, a full 8 were spent pushing! AGH!!!

Eight hours of pushing, that’s the part that men don’t understand.” the Canadian beauty added. “Women go, Oh, dear, oh, dear God, eight hours of pushing?’ And the men are like, Okay, eight hours of pushing. After about five hours of pushing, my midwife and my birthing assistant said, You know, we have a few suggestions,'” she says. “And I was like, Really? After five hours of pushing you have a few suggestions? You couldn’t have told me five minutes in?'”

 

Idina Menzel

Taye Diggs gushed about his wife Idina Menzel who opted for a natural labor, boasting that she used “no drugs. She is a warrior.”

I was holding her hands and cheering her on. I said I would look two times. I would look when the baby was crowning, and I wanted to look right when [son] Walker came out. And then when he came out, all of a sudden it was like my inner gangster came out. I was like, ‘Yeah baby, that’s what I’m talkin’ about, that’s my boy!'”

Ricki Lake

Ricki Lake‘s documentary about home birth, The Business of Being Born, empowered women everywhere to have un-medicated births at home. She gave birth to her second son Owen, now 10, at home in a bathtub. She talked about her reasons for making the film.

“I wanted to make this movie after my two very different birth experiences with my children. I felt like I had an opportunity to explore and question birthing practices in this country and perhaps be an advocate for mothers’ rights and better maternity care.”

 

On the experience of birthing Owen at home, Ricki said:

After the birth of my sons, particularly my home birth with my second son, I thought I wanted to become a midwife. Then I looked at all the years of schooling and training that I would have to do and felt that the time could be better spent doing a documentary on the subject of birth.”

 

Jessica Alba

One of our favorite celebrity moms, Jessica Alba, said she didn’t scream at all while she birthed her first daughter Honor without any medical interventions:

I didn’t scream, it was really Zen. It was amazing. The labor was more like meditation. I did yoga breathing. I was focused.”

 

And her hubby Cash Warren could only marvel at his wife’s quiet strength when she gave birth. “She didn’t make a sound,” he said.

A few other natural birth mamas…

Thandi Newton

Thandie Newton‘s daughters Ripley and Nico were both born in a birthing pool. The Crash star talked about her medication/intervention-free births.

[It was] very challenging in the best way possible. Every fiber of your being is alive. It’s like you are conducting electricity, literally creating something. I’d like to give birth every year if I could, just for that experience.”

Kaitlyn Olson

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Kaitlin Olson and her costar hubby Rob McElenney welcomed their first child, son Axel Lee, in September 2010.

Kaitlin gave birth to their son in the comforts of their home just as her own mother welcomed her. The actress said she is “incredibly grateful to have access to Western medicine” but “[doesn’t] think that childbirth is a medical problem that needs intervention unless there is a complication.”

Melissa Joan Hart

Melissa Joan Hart underwent “a lot of medical intervention” during the birth of her firstborn son Mason. She wanted a drug-free childbirth when it came time to deliver her second son Braydon in March 2008.

 

Pamela Anderson

Former Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson gave birth to both of her sons – Brandon and Dylan – at home, with a midwife, without any drugs. The Canadian native talked about her water birth with talk show host Larry King.

 

 

Mayim Bialik

Mayim Bialik has really ‘blossomed’ into an amazing and outspoken mother! An advocate of attachment parenting, Mayim also empowers women to consider medication-free homebirths. The Big Bang Theory star and mother of two talked about her second son’s home birth, while her elder son watched.

 

Nelly Furtado

Canadian songstress Nellie Furtado is a self-proclaimed “hippie mom” and has opened up about the birth of her daughter Nevis in September 2003. The mom-of-one – who has written/sang hits such as I’m like a Bird and Maneater – proudly said, “I had a home birth with midwives.”

 

Cindy Crawford

Model mom-of-two Cindy Crawford had both of her children – son Presley, now 12, and daughter Kaia, now 10 – at home with her husband Rande Gerber and three midwives on hand.

 

Jennifer Connelly

One of the latest celebrities to join in the home birth craze is Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Connelly. The 40-year-old actress and husband, fellow actor Paul Bettany, welcomed daughter Agnes Lark Bettany in their New York City home on May 31, 2011. Baby Agnes was born via planned home water birth in a birthing pool.

 

Erykah Badu

R&B singer Erykah Badu has given birth to all three of her children – Seven Sirius, now 14, Puma Sabit, now 7, and Mars Merkaba, now 3 – at home.

So who went for the C-section?

 

Tori Spelling

Reality TV star Tori Spelling and her husband Dean McDermott welcomed their third child, daughter Hattie, in October 2011. After three C-sections, the Beverly Hills, 90210 told Celebrity Baby Scoop she’s “sad” she didn’t get to experience a natural birth.

I hate when people say, ‘C-section is so Hollywood.’ If I could’ve, I would’ve chosen a natural birth. That’s what I wanted to do. It does make me sad that I won’t be able to experience it because I’m the type of person that likes to experience everything – bad or good, pain or not, I want to experience it all. And let me just say that a C-section is no walk in the park! Everyone thinks it’s so ‘she-she.’ It’s major surgery and the recovery is much longer and harder and painful. So I definitely wouldn’t have chosen it if I had the opportunity.”

 

Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera gave birth to her first child, son Max, in January 2008. The Beautiful singer talked about her decision to go for an elective C-section.

I didn’t want any surprises. Honestly, I didn’t want any [vaginal] tearing. I had heard horror stories of women going in and having to have an emergency C-section [anyway]. The hardest part was deciding on his birthday. I wanted to leave it up to fate, but at the same time I was ready to be done early!”

 

Britney Spears

In 2005 prior to the birth of her first son, pop star Britney Spears told Elle magazine that she was spooked to give birth naturally because of her mother’s description of vaginal childbirth as being the most excruciating pain she had ever endured.

I have a feeling I’m going to have an operation. I don’t know why, but I hope so. My mom said giving birth was the most excruciating thing that she’s ever gone through in her life. So if a caesarean doesn’t happen, I’ll be like, Epidural, please!’ Hopefully my athletic abilities will take over.”

 

Rumor has it she wanted to schedule her second C-section birth to coincide with Sean Preston’s birthday, but her then-husband Kevin Federline persuaded her to move the date forward. Sean’s birthday is September 14, 2005 and Jayden’s birthday is September 12, 2006.

 

Angelina Jolie

A-lister mama Angelina Jolie had a scheduled C-section with her first biological child, Shiloh, due to her breech presentation. The mother-of-six talked about the “fascinating” experience.

We were in this little hospital in Africa when Shi was born. I don’t think there was anybody else in the hospital. It was just a little cottage, the three of us. It ended up being the greatest thing. We had wonderful doctors and nurses. It was lovely, very personal, all three in this sweet room. We had an American doctor with us, who had met the Namibian doctors, and they worked in tandem because it was a C-section and my first and we didn’t know the country. He spent a few weeks with us. There was only one pediatrician in town, and one anesthesiologist, who had to come in for that you have to plan it. I had a C-section and I found it fascinating. I didn’t find it a sacrifice and I didn’t find it a painful experience. I found it a fascinating miracle of what a body can do.”

 

Angelina’s now 3-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne were also born via C-section.

 

 

Victoria Beckham

The very woman who inspired the phrase “too posh to push,” Victoria Beckham, has had four scheduled C-sections. While she has publicly stated that they were medically necessary, others have speculated that Vickie is not only too posh to push, but she wanted to avoid abdominal stretching and the pain of natural childbirth.

 

While her hunky hubby David Beckham has said they’d love a fifth child, another pregnancy is likely not in the cards for the 37-year-old mother of four as doctors have warned that her body couldn’t handle a fifth C-section.

 

Claudia Schiffer

Former supermodel Claudia Schiffer and husband Matthew Vaughn welcomed their third child, daughter Cosima, in May 2010.

 

“Mother and child are both doing very well,” Claudia’s spokesperson said, and added that the baby was born via C-section at Portland Hospital in London. Reportedly, this was the third C-section for the 41-year-old model who is also mom to son Caspar, 9, and daughter Clementine, 7.

Sometimes though, a mother might want a natural birth, but mother nature has other plans…

 

Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet said that when her daughter Mia was delivered via C-section in 2000 she was left feeling “like a complete failure.”

I’ve never talked about this. I’ve actually gone to great pains to cover it up. But Mia was an emergency C-section. I just said that I had a natural birth because I was so completely traumatized by the fact that I hadn’t given birth. I felt like a complete failure. My whole life, I’d been told I had great childbearing hips. There’s this thing amongst women in the world that if you can handle childbirth, you can handle anything. I had never handled childbirth, and I felt like, in some way that I couldn’t join that powerful women’s club.'”

 

But the Academy Award-winning actress opted for the VBAC for her second child and had her “triumphant” birth:

So it was an amazing feeling having Joe naturally, vaginally. Fourteen hours with no drugs at all, but then I had to have an epidural because I was so tired. I honestly thought I’d never be able to do it. It was an incredible birth. It laid all the ghosts to rest. It was really triumphant.”

 

Camila Alves

Camila Alves labored at the hospital for 60 hours before her son Levi was finally delivered via C-section. Dad Matthew McConaughey famously recounted the birth story:

Contractions started kicking in. We had a 14-hour session, her and I did. I sat there with her, right between her legs. We got tribal on it, we danced to it! I was DJ-ing this Brazilian music. We were jamming! She was sweating. No painkiller, let’s go. She just clicked into that gear that only a woman has at a time like this. We’d been up for 40-something hours, and we went from dead tired to a really steadfast, Let’s handle this… let’s stay in the rhythm. Don’t let the contraction be more than you.’ The doctor wanted to give her an epidural, and we said, “Give us a few more hours to keep rocking with this.’ I wasn’t speaking for Camila. She had the option of saying, Give me an epidural, right now,’ whenever she wanted. This is where I learned – and no one tells you this – but having a baby is a bloody, pukey, sweaty, primeval thing! And I mean that as a beautiful thing. It is wild. But the vacuum didn’t work, and the doctor said, C-section.'”

Kellie Martin

Life goes on! Kellie Martin was set on giving birth naturally and was disappointed that she had to be induced when her daughter Maggie didn’t want to come on her own.

I was induced, and I really, really wanted to have her naturally. No drugs, no nothing, because that’s what my mom did with me so I figured you know I’m as tough as my mother!

 

Maggie changed her mind after her water broke, but Kellie’s husband and her nurse helped her get through it.

We got a couple of hours into the real, good contractions and they broke my water… and once that happened, I said Okay, no, no, no,no… can’t do it. Can’t do it! Drugs! Somebody help me…I have to have drugs.’ And my husband knew how important it was to me to have Maggie naturally so he just kept changing the subject, and my nurse kept changing the subject…She’d be like Ooooh, look! It’s so beautiful outside!’ And I was like, Seriously, no one is listening tome.’ And by that point I’d really forgotten that I needed the drugs,and it was time to push.”

 

Laila Ali

Laila Ali had planned on having an unmedicated home birth. The professional boxer ended up in the hospital and required pain relief and medical support during labor.

He is healthy, he is here, and even though everything didn’t go the way I would have liked it to have gone… that’s the way it was supposed to be,” Ali said.

It’s a hot topic for moms-to-be in Hollywood as well…

 

Marla Sokoloff

Actress and musician Marla Sokoloff is set to welcome her first child – a girl – at the end of this month. The mom-to-be talked to Celebrity Baby Scoop about her low-key birth plan and her hopes for a natural delivery.

My birth plan is simply getting her out safely! I’m not one of those pregnant women who have a 40-page birth plan ready to go. One of my best friends had it all planned out then wound up having an emergency C-section, so you really never know. I’m really trying to go with the flow the best I can in every capacity of pregnancy. Not to say I’m being flippant about the process – I’ve definitely thought about it and educated myself on labor and delivery. I trust my doctor 100% so that is also giving me the confidence to take this on without added anxiety.”

The mom-to-be went on about her doubts of a drug-free birth.

I plan on delivering in the hospital and would LOVE to tell you that it will be a drug free experience, but I don’t think that’s in the cards for me.”

 

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