Hilary Duff wanted her son to witness the miracle of life.
The “Younger” star, who says she’s very “open and honest” with her children, planned for her 9-year-old Luca to be in the room when she gave birth to daughter Mae at home last month.
“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,” Duff said recently on the “Informed Pregnancy” podcast. “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.”
Duff, 33, said that while Luca — her son with ex-husband Mike Comrie — expressed his hopes to be there for Mae’s birth, things ended up progressing “so fast … he made it right as I was pulling the baby out.”
Mae is the second child for Duff and singer-songwriter Matthew Koma, 33, who got married in 2019. The couple’s 2-year-old daughter, Banks Violet, was not present for the birth and joined the family “after the fact.”
Duff, who had a water birth for both Banks and Mae after welcoming Luca at the hospital, said she hopes understanding childbirth can help guide Luca in the far-off future if he has his own children.
“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 said. “There’s many different ways.”
As for who was in the room during Mae’s birth, Duff said that Koma, her mother, three midwives, a doula/birth photographer and a close pal were all there.
During Banks’ birth, Luca was able to be more present because Duff’s contractions didn’t intensify as quickly, the actress said.
