How celebrities choose to give birth

by Dawn Gay

For most mums-to-be antenatal classes, midwife visits and packing a hospital bag is all we can manage in the final days of pregnancy. So how do celebrities get to this stage and still manage red carpets and trips to The Ivy?

At home
These days, giving birth at The Portland Hospital or at London and LA's Cedars Sinai Medical Center is like spending a night at The Ritz.

But more celebrities are avoiding the paparazzi lenses and opting for a quieter birth. So what better place to dodge the flash bulbs than having a celebrity baby at home with a team of midwives on call. Many celebrity mums have favoured the natural way. Demi Moore, Cindy Crawford and Davina McCall have all given birth at home three times.

And it's not unlike celebs to withdraw from the spotlight and move back to their roots for the delivery. Nelly Furtado gave birth to her first child, Nevis, back at home in Toronto and Charlotte Church gave birth in her native Cardiff.

Pamela Anderson had her two boys, Brandon and Dylan, 'back at the ranch'. She said: 'I gave birth at home both times, naturally, with a midwife, in water, with nothing.'

In silence
Scientology is the 'fashionable' religion in Hollywood, endorsed by new dad Tom Cruise. And controversially, silent labours are one of the beliefs followers hold. So when Scientologist Kelly Preston, John Travolta's wife, gave birth to their daughter Ella her lips were sealed.

She said it was 'just a peaceful, beautiful entry into this earth', but speculation suggests she may have lapsed at one point and is reported to have shouted, 'throw me in the car! I want an epidural!'

With a guru
Available for a mere £5,000 a pop, South African obstetrician Yehudi Gordon is famed for his laid back approach to labour. He encourages his celebrity patients to take control of the birth with yoga or in a birthing pool.

London's St John and St Elizabeth Hospital where he practices has seen many a tinted-screen limo pull up outside. Heather Mills, Kate Moss, Cate Blanchett, Jerry Hall, Emma Thompson and Elle McPherson all gave birth in the hands of this renowned birthing guru. Gordon reportedly performs his caesarean section operations under candlelight.

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How celebrities choose to give birth