Some mistakenly think that Thandie Newton gave birth to her and husband Ol Parker’s third child on the bathroom floor of their home because she did not have enough time to get to the nearest hospital. The reality, however, is that the actress wanted to have her labor and delivery experience from the comforts of home.
“I was more scared of going to the hospital because it was a place I associated with illness,” Thandie tells Us Weekly. “I didn’t feel ill when I was pregnant and I knew that it was going to be the most extraordinary feat of courage and I needed to feel uninhibited. I didn’t feel I would get there if I was in an environment that didn’t feel safe to me.”
At-home births are on the rise in the United States as more women are beginning to choose a doula over medical doctors. There are certainly benefits to giving birth at home. Outside of being in an environment that brings the most comfort, water births prove to be less abrupt for the baby than traditional labor and delivery sessions. Instead of immediately being exposed to an atmosphere that lacks the fluids they have become accustomed to over the past nine months, newborns can transition from the water in mom’s body to that of the liquid in the birthing pool.
Also, Pathways To Family Wellness points out, “The continuous mother-baby interaction fosters successful breastfeeding, which is the baby’s best protection against infection from the moment of birth. Midwives provide continuity of care and comprehensive mother/baby care at a level impossible in the assembly-line nature of hospitals.”
Thandie Newton would likely agree with these observations, which is why she chose at-home births for all of her kids. “It’s about knowing the facts,” Newton says in reference to those who criticize at-home births. “If the baby’s heartbeat started to slow, then we would have got ourselves in the car,” she adds. “It didn’t and I was able to have my babies at home.”
Thandie Newton and Ol Parker parent three children together. Stay tuned for more celebrity family news!
