Hilary Duff welcomed her third child, daughter Mae, in late March—and now the singer-actress is publicly sharing photos from her home birth.
Hilary Duff Birth Photos
Duff said that Koma "is the most calm anchor in the room when I feel like climbing the walls." She also credited her doula and Younger co-star, Molly Bernand, for guiding her through the process.
"My little Molly is an extraordinary doula who sat with me when I needed to be still and quiet," Duff wrote. "She quite enjoyed the fact that I was sitting on doggy puddle pads as my water had broken hours before 🤣."
Duff said her mom was there "to make all the snacks and watch with a big nervous smile as her baby brings her a new grandbaby earthside." She continued, "the help that I have to support my other children while I am not able is maybe the most comforting thought of all. All hands on deck. Forever lol."
Duff said that the birthing experience "is hard work," adding, "every way a woman brings a baby in is."
"From getting pregnant, to C-sections, hospital or home births, the breast feeding journey (oy vey that one gets me every time) and raising these little beings responsibly to be stand up, confidant, kind citizens of the world. It's completely consuming," she said. "A tedious, magical, miraculous adventure…So cheers almighty mothers. You make mountains move daily ♥️."
Plenty of people, including several famous names, praised Duff in the comments. "My actual superhero ❤️," Koma wrote. "This is amazing ❤️," said Jenna Dewan. "Love this and you!! Wowowow," chimed in Mandy Moore.
Duff said on the Informed Pregnancy Podcast in April that she wanted her 9-year-old son Luca to witness her home birth, which only took three hours. In the podcast, Duff said Luca came into the room "right as I was pulling the baby out" and Banks, 2, went into the room "after the fact."
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"He wanted to be there for it, but it happened so fast he missed it," Duff said of her labor. "It was kind of important for me because I'm really big on being open and honest with him about how strong women are and what childbirth looks like," she continued. "He knows all about periods and it's important for me to normalize that conversation with him for all the women that are going to be in his life."
"I think that sometimes a 9-year-old boy is like, 'Well, men have bigger muscles,' and, like, yeah, but we bring life into this world," Duff said. "We move a baby through our body. There is a big topic of conversation in the house right now: equality, and strength coming from different places besides your muscles."
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