Who Knew? Celebs Giving Birth at Home

What do Gisele Bundchen, Cindy Crawford, Hilary Duff, Ashley Graham and Lisa Bonet have in common? These superstar moms all opted to give birth in the comfort of home. Meaning their off-spring including Kaia Gerber and Zoe Kravitz were born outside a hospital.

Home births are nothing new of course, but they are experiencing a comeback of sorts. The CDC reports they are at their highest level in 30 years. In fact, there were 51,642 home births in the U.S. in 2021.

Home deliveries have become more common as they are now associated with fewer complications than in previous years, especially when a midwife or doula is present.

Cindy Crawford spoke of using a trusted, trained midwife to help her deliver her daughter Kaia and her son Presley. Singer Alanis Morisette had both a midwife AND a doula present for the birth of her son, she later delivered her daughter at home as well. 

Gisele Bunchen chose to not only deliver the two children she shares with quarterback Tom Brady at home, the supermodel mom opted for water births each time! Son Benjamin was born in a bathtub and three years later, daughter Vivian was delivered in a special birthing tub. Actress Jennifer Connelly also took the plunge, scheduling a water birth for her daughter.

For some moms, it was a double-delivery.  Model Ashley Graham gave birth to twin boys on January 6- this blessed event coming three years after Ashley delivered her first son at home. Olympic skier Bode Miller and his wife pro volleyball player Morgan Miller also delivered their twin boys at home. In this instance, mom’s helper was Morgan’s mom who is a midwife. 

Some of these home deliveries came as a surprise! Maya Rudolph didn’t plant to give birth at home, but the baby came so quickly there wasn’t time to get to a hospital. Seth Myers’ wife Alexi can top that, giving birth to their first child in the lobby of their apartment building. They later made the choice to deliver their next baby at home, this time carefully planning it, using a midwife and a birthing tub.

So why all the fuss?

The Mayo Clinic says a planned home birth may be appealing for a variety of reasons, including:

• A desire to give birth without medical interventions such as pain medication, labor induction, fetal heart rate monitoring, or delivery assisted with forceps or other instruments
• A desire to give birth in a comfortable, familiar place
• Dissatisfaction with hospital care
• A desire for more control of the birthing process
• Cultural or religious concerns
• Lack of access to transportation
• Lack of a local hospital
• Lower cost

It is certainly a decision that requires careful consideration as well as conversation with your ob-gyn. 

But there’s more. The roster of home birth moms reads like a who’s who. Other notables are Academy Award winners Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore. Talk about making a dramatic entrance!