Miranda Kerr's Anti-Epidural Comments Incite Backlash
ABC News' Paula Faris reports:
Miranda Kerr is no stranger to the spotlight, whether on the runway for Victoria's Secret or on the carpet with husband Orlando Bloom. The 29-year-old model is a new mother and on the hot seat after making comments to Harper's Bazaar UK about why she opted against epidural anesthesia during her son's birth.
The Aussie, who is on the cover of the August issue, told the magazine that she decided to have a natural birth without any pain medication after watching baby-bonding videos. Kerr saw that babies without an epidural come out and go straight for the breast.
"Then they showed ones [babies] right after the epidural, and that didn't happen," Kerr said. "The baby was a little bit drugged up, and I was like, 'Well I don't want that.' I wanted to give him the best possible start in life I could."
On one popular parenting blog, Café Mom's TheStir.com, mothers are taking Kerr's comments to heart, saying, "Being a supermodel doesn't make you an expert" and that she should "choose her words more wisely."
"The reality of the situation is there … is no concern of epidural anesthesia on a newborn baby," said Dr. Deborah Stein, who practices obstetric anesthesiology at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in New York.
Kerr is not alone in her stance, as one blogger says, "The babies are drugged up when you receive an epidural … do your research."
"Most studies suggest that some babies will have trouble 'latching on,' causing breastfeeding difficulties," according to the American Pregnancy Association's website.
"I don't care if you had an epidural, if you had it naturally, a water birth, at home or in the hospital," said Mary Fischer, a writer for TheStir.com. "Women just need to respect each other."
