Yahoo Movies Hilary Duff Explains the 'Important' Reason She Wanted Son Luca, 9, to Witness Her Water Birth
Hilary Duff wanted her 9-year-old son to witness the strength of women firsthand.
Speaking with Dr. Elliot Berlin on Informed Pregnancy Podcast, the Younger star, 33, recounts the at-home water birth of her third child, daughter Mae James on March 24. Duff — who also shares daughter Banks Violet, 2, with husband Matthew Koma — explains why she wanted son Luca Cruz to be present for the birth of his little sister.
Duff says Luca, whom she shares with ex-husband Mike Comrie, made it to the room "right as I was pulling the baby out" and Banks arrived "after the fact."
"He wanted to be there for it, but it happened so fast he missed it," explains the mom, sharing that the labor and delivery was just over three hours long.
"It was kind of important for me [for Luca to be there] because I'm really big on being open and honest with him about how strong women are and what childbirth looks like," says Duff. "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. We move a baby through our body," she adds. "There is a big topic of conversation in the house right now: equality, and strength coming from different places besides your muscles or whatever."
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Duff adds that she also wants her boy to understand the many ways of bringing a baby into the world. "I want him to someday, when he's ready to have a child with his partner or wife or whatever, I want him to be able to respect the way that she wants to be able to have a baby, and if that's at home, that can be at home, if that's in a hospital, it will be hospital," she says. "There's many different ways."
The mom of three also shares that she couldn't have Banks around as much during the labor since everything happened so quickly this time around.
"I was like, 'Someone get her out of here,' because the contractions were ... just coming so fast and it was hard for me to— With Luca, when I was in labor with [Banks], he was in and out and I was hanging out with him and we were cuddling and it wasn't as hard right away," she recalls. "With this one, I couldn't handle [Banks] not knowing what was going on, wanting me."
Aaron Poole/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Hilary Duff
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Duff's Younger costar Molly Bernard was among the few in the room as Duff gave birth to Mae. Bernard, 33, told E! News that she was an "extra set of hands" — and her pal makes childbirth look "easy."
"It was one of the honors of my life to be supportive of her during a seminal moment like that of her life. She's just so strong and graceful, and makes even giving birth look easy," Bernard said. "She's amazing."
Another Younger cast mate, Nico Tortorella, told Entertainment Tonight that they are now considering a water birth in the future because of Duff.
"I've gotten plenty of pictures [of Mae]. Hilary is such an incredible woman and the ways in which she has brought these children into this world are incredible," said Tortorella, 32. "They've inspired how we want to have babies at home right in the little bathtub in the master bedroom with everyone else around. There is something so special about how she lives her life and how she carries people, quite literally."
