Why Does This Star Have to Prove She Didn't Have a C-Section?

Yoga instructor and Extra correspondent Hilaria Baldwin posted this photo to Instagram to prove she didn’t have a C-section. (Photo: Hilaria Baldwin/Instagram)

Hilaria Baldwin, wife of Alec Baldwin, is on the defensive this week after her Instagram followers got into “pretty serious arguments” about whether she had a C-section with her newborn son. The Extra correspondent posted a forward facing pic of her post-baby belly to prove that, “I did not have a C-section.”

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Last Friday, Baldwin posted a photo on Instagram showing her belly only two days after giving birth to her second child, Rafael. “I have been planning on doing post belly photos but didn’t know if I was gonna have the guts to actually follow through,” she wrote of the photo, in which she is wearing only a bra and underwear and cradling her shrinking — but still noticeable — baby bump. “I hope you understand my intention here: I believe it is important to accept and love our form after going through a bit of battle bringing life into this world. Deep breath, here we go…all the way from my glamorous hospital bathroom. #ShrinkingBaldwinBabyBump #NoShame #LoveYourBody"

Hilaria Baldwin posted this photo, taken two days after giving birth, to Instagram on Friday. (Photo: Hilaria Baldwin/Instagram)

The photo racked up more than 7,000 likes and largely supportive comments, but Baldwin says her photos have also spurred some followers to speculate on her method of delivery. “Did you end up having a C-section?” asked a couple of followers. Another wrote, “Hope all is ok, they usually send new mommies and babies home [right] away.”

While the comments might have ones of been simple concern, Baldwin took to Instagram to clarify that she had a vaginal delivery. On Sunday, 30-year-old Baldwin, who is also a yoga instructor, posted another, front-facing photo. “This is for those of you who are getting into some pretty serious arguments with each other about if I had a C-section or not…this should clear it up: as you can see from this pic, I did not have a C-section,” Baldwin wrote in the post.

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Regardless of the number of negative comments, why does Baldwin feel the need to prove anything?

“Some people are so engrossed in the details of the labor and delivery they want that they lose sight of the fact that in the end, the goal is to have a healthy baby and for the mom to be healthy,” says Dr. Amy Henriott, OB-GYN at Midwest Center for Women’s Healthcare. “The C-section rate has been rising for a while now, so there has been some pushback, by patients and by OBs, to avoid C-sections when possible. With every surgery there is a risk of complications and a longer recovery. Doctors want patients to have vaginal births, because we want to avoid medical intervention as much as possible, but if that’s what it comes down to, that’s OK.”

Some women consider it a badge of honor to have a vaginal delivery, just as some feel that same pride in getting through labor without an epidural, Henriott says. “But in the end, no matter your delivery, you’re still a new mom,” she says. “We all walk out of the hospital with a new baby, and go home to figure out feeding and everything that comes along with having a newborn.”

There should be no shame in having a C-section, or an epidural, and no need to prove oneself either, Henriott says. “It’s sad when people feel disappointed in themselves if their birth didn’t happen the way they wanted it to,” she says — also sad when women are judged for how they delivered.

Henriott says Baldwin’s intention with her original photo was a positive one. “She was trying to show women that this is the normal post-pregnancy body — your uterus is still enlarged. You still have a bump. She is a very fit woman but she is still recovering and healing, and she’s not in her pre-pregnancy jeans,” Henriott says. “She could have hidden that, but instead she took this right after her delivery and is helping people set up appropriate expectations.”

Granted, Baldwin looks stunning even with her lingering bump, but Henriott says that isn’t the point. “Obviously she is really fit and beautiful, but at the same time her body is different for her. This isn’t what she looks like at baseline,” she points out. “Anyone can say ‘It is easier for her, she weighs however many pounds here,’ but it’s still a leap of faith to post this.”

Women should be prepared for a bump after birth, because that’s reality, Henriott says. “It takes 40 weeks to make a baby, its going to take more than two weeks to go back to normal, but that’s not the expectation that people have in their heads,” she says. “It’s great to tell people, ‘this is normal, this is healthy, it takes time for your body to recover.’”

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