As home births become more popular, more and more celebrity mums are opting to have their babies at home. Interestingly enough, all the Kings and Queens of England were born at home, including the current Queen. In fact Princess Diana was the first member of the Royal family to have her babies in hospital.
Celebrity midwife April says, “Celebrity or no, every woman deserves the right to privacy, if she wishes, regarding her choices. Home birthing will always continue on and in my opinion it is the famous who yearn to have what we the home birthing tribes have; the simple, strong, without-fanfare birth that champions our beliefs best.” So which other celebrities are birthing at home and, more importantly, what have they got to say about the experience?
Party-loving Charlotte Church gave birth to a baby girl at home in her beloved Wales. The 21-year-old singer bought a birthing pool for the delivery which was attended by two midwives.She and boyfriend Gavin Henson, wept tears of joy at the arrival, according to reports.Read our news report on Charlotte’s birth.
Big Brother’s ‘Big Mutha’, Davina McMcall is a huge advocate of home births and she must know what she’s talking about, having given birth to all three children at home. Of her first child’s birth, Holly, Davina said “It was the best experience of my life – well apart from making her!”
Pamela Anderson had both her babies at home, with two midwives
and her then husband Tommy Lee present. Other actresses who birthed at
home include Lisa Bonet, best known for her role as Denise Huxtable
on The Cosby Show, Meryl Streep, and Demi Moore who had
all three of her children at home.
John Travolta’s wife, Kelly Preston, also had a home birth with
their daughter Ella and spoke of her experience as a Scientologist and
the practice of labouring in silence. She said a silent birth was “just
a peaceful, beautiful entry into this earth,” although she remembers at
one point during her 13 hour labour shouting out, “Throw me in the car!
I want an epidural!”
British actress Jemma Redgrave gave birth to 9lb 4oz Alfie at
home after a six-hour labour with no pain relief and no postnatal complications.
Her midwives were from the Birth Centre and after the birth she said,
“The NHS is superb, but the staff can seem insensitive because they never
see the same patient twice. I’ve always felt it was important to have
some sort of relationship with the midwife. On the day I gave birth to
my first child someone I didn’t know delivered me. The Birth Centre experience
was totally different from the NHS. I felt like I was surrounded by friends.”
Supermodel Stella Tennant also gave birth at home with midwives
from the Birth Centre. She says, “I am not afraid of hospital but I felt
that if there were no complications with my pregnancy I would prefer to
give birth in the familiar surroundings of my flat. I wanted to take as
much responsibility as possible for the birth of my child.”
Singer Nellie Furtado is a self-confessed ‘hippie mum’ and proudly
talks of the birth of her daughter Nevus, declaring, “I had a home birth
with midwives.” And mum Cindy Crawford had all three of her children
at home with her husband Rande Gerber and three midwives on hand. She
said, “I didn’t tell anyone last time because a lot of people are against
home birth and tell you horror stories. Even my husband said at first,
‘Why are we doing this?’ But she says that her experience was ‘absolutely
surreal,’ even though her son Presley was born after a gruelling 17 hour
labour.
“I’m a big advocate of home births if the pregnancy’s been healthy,”
she says. “We also didn’t let anyone come around for the first three days.
We really kept that time for ourselves to get over everything.” Actress
Lucy Lawless, best known as the leather-clad Xena, warrior princess,
also gave birth at home with her husband, Xena producer Rob Tapert, and
a midwife by her side. She described her home water birth as totally natural
saying, “‘Nothing was more natural than having him in water. “The water
temperature in the birthing pool is similar to a mother’s body temperature.
The baby is essentially floating in water for nine months so it’s a smoother
transition when they are born.” And Ricki Lake, who gave birth
to son Owen at home in a bathtub said, “Having a child turns your world
upside down. My goals in life have changed drastically since the second
he landed on this planet.” The talk show host was so impressed by her
home birth that she became an advocate for women wanting to deliver their
babies at home. She trained as a doula and has since helped deliver several
babies for pregnant women wanting to have a natural home birth.
Where to next?
- See more information about home births
- Visit our comprehensive Labour and birth section
- Join your antenatal club
- Talk with other mums-to-be and parents on our Labour and birth discussion forum
