10 celebrity moms share intimate moments from their home births
Home births aren't always planned or perfect but they are worth learning about.
For some moms-to-be, home births can be equally i ntriguing or anxiety-provoking . As of 2020, "approximately 35,000 births" take place inside the home, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) , which equates to only .9% of all yearly births, so it may seem rare to find someone you know who has chosen a home birth. Luckily, celebs (they're just like us!) have shared their stories, giving us an intimate look at what happens when you achieve your goal of bringing your newborn into the world at home.
These are their stories:
1. Hilary Duff
Five months after Duff welcomed her daughter, Banks, the actress shared a breathtaking video of the moments after she gave birth in a pool of water in her home.
"I've been wondering for a long time if I would ever share this video as it is extremely personal," Duff wrote. "It was so absolutely lovely and rewarding(and shocking) that after giving birth to my baby girl we hugged ...for the first time, In my mind I like to believe that she was saying good job mom. Go team go. We did it. Together. Matt provided such a safe calm strength, my mommy and sissy were there to cheer me on, and of course my birth angels to make sure all was well and big brother (downstairs deep in legos)."
2. Jade Roper
The Bachelor star never intended to give birth at home, but when her water broke and she went into labor with her second child, she had no choice. Roper shared the story alongside a photo of herself holding the newborn in her closet surrounded by paramedics.
"I've been still processing the shock of this all, as this was not all at what I had planned, but I am so so thankful for each person who helped bring our son into the world safely," she wrote. "I'll share my whole birth story soon, but long story short, my waters broke and 75 minutes later I gave birth to our healthy baby boy while clutching a bench in our closet. It was one of the scariest moments of my life because I felt so out of control, but Tanner, Tanner's mom, my mom and the medics and firefighters kept me going when I felt like the world was caving in on me and my unborn baby."
3. Alanis Morissette
The mom-of-three gave birth to her oldest two children at home by choice. The first at-home birth for Morissette took place when she welcomed her son, Ever, on Christmas Day in 2011 . "My husband was at my side the whole time, my total hero," Morissette said during a 2013 interview on the Today Show. "And the rest was really up to God. The experience was beyond pain. "It was a transcendental experience. I just went to this whole other world. I basically had to be the little soldier that I am and really focus on this new beautiful creature coming out of me."
Morissette was once again open and honest about the home-birth process during an interview with People in 2017, nearly 14 months after welcoming her second child, daughter Onyx. "It was terrifying, but then once we heard her, and once she cried [and] I pulled her up and she started breastfeeding, I was just like, 'Ah,'" she recalled. "It gets gnarlier and gnarlier. I think the words Texas Chainsaw Massacre were used when [my midwife and doula] walked in. It's pretty gnarly, but it's not meant to be all clean and perfect. We are animals."
4. Lisa Bonet
Bonet is also a two-time home birther. She welcomed daughter Zoë Kravitz in 1988 at home and did it all again in 2007 when she gave birth to her daughter Lola.
5. Alyson Hannigan
The American Pie actress had her mind set on a home birth after watching Ricki Lake's The Business of Being Born documentary. "I've never liked hospitals. I wanted to be comfortable as possible when I gave birth, and there's no place I'm more comfortable than my own home," Hannigan said during an interview with Woman's Day in 2009. "I wanted a comforting and positive environment; in my opinion, hospitals are for sick people."
Hannigan, who welcomed both daughters Satyana and Keeva, later explained her decision during an interview with Yahoo! Parent in 2015. "For me, the choice [to give birth at home] was phenomenal," she said. "We had a midwife, but we asked our doctor if he needed to be there. He said, 'Sure, but you don't need me. A midwife does everything I do.'"
6. Aija Lise and Andy Grammer
The couple's second daughter, Isreal, was born at their home in April 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. "In the midst of a lot of bad news, Israel has lit up our house with immense joy," the proud parents told Us Weekly. "We are so fortunate to have had a safe and sacred midwife home birth."
7. Ashley Graham
During a discussion on her Pretty Big Deal podcast , the model shared that she gave birth at home because her "anxiety would've been through the roof " if she went through labor and delivery at the hospital.
8. Bekah Martinez
Shortly after welcoming her second child, the Bachelor alum opened up about her decision to give birth at home. "Safe pregnancy and birth is a privilege," she wrote on Instagram. "A home birth with a midwife who is the same color as me is a huge privilege."
9. Jessa Duggar Seewald
Jessa Duggar Seewald has had three home births, but her third was not supposed happen at home. She'd planned to deliver in a hospital but her body had other plans.
"My water broke right here in the kitchen," Jessa explains in a video from TLC . "Our birth plan through this whole pregnancy was that we would deliver at a birthing suite at the hospital with a midwife there. However, the morning that my water broke was the morning that my midwife had left town for a week."
Jessa was about 10 days ahead of her due date and she decided to call another midwife when she realized her third home birth was definitely happening.