Hilary Duff has celebrated the strength of mothers and expressed gratitude for her support system while sharing photos from the recent home birth of her and husband Matthew Koma’s daughter Mae.
On Tuesday, the Lizzie McGuire star, who welcomed the couple’s youngest daughter Mae James Bair in March, shared an album of photographs from the birthing experience to Instagram.
In the first picture, Duff, who shares daughter Banks, two, with Koma, and who is also mother to son Luca, nine, can be seen being helped by her doula, Molly Bernard, while the second photo sees the actress cradling her stomach while leaning into her husband of two years.
The album also includes candid photos of a moodboard of her family posted above her bathtub, as well as Duff sitting on a medicine ball while surrounded by her family and the pads typically used to potty-train animals, which she joked about in the caption.
“Feeling ready to share some photos of Mae Mae’s birth day!!! For me to feel safe during birth and get to where I need to go, it’s crucial to have the right support system,” the 33-year-old wrote. “The perfect amount of space, counter-pressure, humour, stillness and people that support my power.”
Duff then went on to praise her husband, describing the singer-songwriter as the “most calm anchor in the room when I feel like climbing the walls”.
The actress also shared her gratitude for Bernard, who she said is an “extraordinary doula” and who sat with her “when I needed to be still and quiet”.
“She quite enjoyed the fact that I was sitting on doggy puddle pads as my water had broken hours before,” Duff continued.
According to Duff, the home birth was made even more special by the presence of her own mother, who helped by making snacks and offering her support, with the Younger star writing: “My own mama was there to make all the snacks and watch with a big nervous smile as her baby brings her a new grandbaby earthside.”
In the post, Duff also noted that, in addition to helping her, the group also supported her other children when she was unable, which she described as “maybe the most comforting thought of all”.
Duff then took the opportunity to describe the difficulties of childbirth while applauding all the ways that babies are brought into the world, before concluding the post praising mothers who “make mountains move daily”.
“This is hard work… every way a woman brings a baby in is. From getting pregnant, to C-sections, hospital or home births, the breastfeeding journey (oy vey that one gets me every time) and raising these little beings responsibly to be stand up, confident, kind citizens of the world,” she wrote. “It’s completely consuming. A tedious, magical, miraculous adventure…So cheers almighty mothers. You make mountains move daily.”
The emotional post was met with an outpouring of supportive comments, including from fellow celebrities such as Mandy Moore, who wrote: “Love this and you! Wowow” and Jenna Dewan, who said: “This is amazing.”
“So beautiful mama. Thanks for sharing your journey,” Tori Spelling added.
Duff and Koma first announced they were expecting their second child together in October 2020, when the actress shared a video to Instagram of her husband rubbing her pregnant stomach along with the caption: “We are growing!!! Mostly me…”
