Hilary Duff Shares Intimate Photos of Home Birth of Daughter Surrounded by Family

Some birthing people choose to deliver in a medical setting while others opt for a home birth experience. The reasons behind these decisions are varied and can include personal or medical reasons. Many who choose home birth wish to feel more in control of the birthing process and want the experience to be in a setting with minimal interventions. Such thoughts led singer-actress Hilary Duff to welcome her third child—daughter Mae—into the world using a home birth. The singer-actress publicly shared photos from her home birth.

Sharing the Experience

Duff, 33, dropped a series of pictures from the experience on Instagram, noting in the caption that she was "ready" to reveal them to the world. You can scroll through eight of the pictures below.

In the photos, Duff can be seen in what appears to be her bedroom during different parts of her labor. In one photo she supports her weight during a contraction by holding onto a cloth draped from the bed canopy while a doula applies counter pressure with a pad to her lower back and hips.

In another, she rests against her husband, Matthew Koma. Other images in the series show different parts of her labor. One photo shows a mood board in her bathtub with different phrases like "ride the wave" and "my body and my baby know what to do," alongside the names of her other children, Luca and Banks.

Home Birth Support Team

The actress included callouts to her home birthing team in the caption of the post. "For me to feel safe during birth and get to where I need to go, it's crucial to have the right support system," she wrote in the caption. "The perfect amount of space, counter-pressure, humor, stillness, and people that support my power."

Duff said that Koma "is the most calm anchor in the room when I feel like climbing the walls." She also credited her doula and Younger co-star, Molly Bernand, for guiding her through the process.

"My little Molly is an extraordinary doula who sat with me when I needed to be still and quiet," Duff wrote. "She quite enjoyed the fact that I was sitting on doggy puddle pads as my water had broken hours before 🤣."

Duff said her mom was there "to make all the snacks and watch with a big nervous smile as her baby brings her a new grandbaby earthside." She continued, "the help that I have to support my other children while I am not able is maybe the most comforting thought of all. All hands on deck. Forever lol."

Duff said that the birthing experience "is hard work," adding, "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, confidant, kind citizens of the world. It's completely consuming," she said. "A tedious, magical, miraculous adventure…So cheers almighty mothers. You make mountains move daily ♥️."

Plenty of people, including several famous names, praised Duff in the comments. "My actual superhero ❤️," Koma wrote. "This is amazing ❤️," said Jenna Dewan. "Love this and you!! Wowowow," chimed in Mandy Moore.

Duff said on the Informed Pregnancy Podcast in April that she wanted her 9-year-old son Luca to witness her home birth, which only took three hours. In the podcast, Duff said Luca came into the room "right as I was pulling the baby out" and Banks, 2, went into the room "after the fact."

"He wanted to be there for it, but it happened so fast he missed it," Duff said of her labor. "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," she continued. "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."

"I think that sometimes a 9-year-old boy is like, 'Well, men have bigger muscles,' and, like, yeah, but we bring life into this world," Duff said. "We move a baby through our body. There is a big topic of conversation in the house right now: equality, and strength coming from different places besides your muscles."