15 Celebrities Who Aren’t Afraid to Talk About How Hard It Can Be to Be a Mom

We oftentimes read how famous actresses, singers and models share their parenting experiences in interviews. As a rule, they say that motherhood helped them find themselves and that they learn a lot from their kids. Rihanna, for example, declared that having kids has always been the biggest dream of her life. But sometimes celebrities are ready to speak about not only the positives of motherhood, because it includes lack of sleep, and even health issues.

Emily Blunt

Actress Emily Blunt who gave birth to her second daughter in 2016 compared lactating with a tsunami. “After we got home from the hospital, I didn’t shower for a week, and then I was like, ’Let’s go out for dinner.’ I could last only about an hour because my boobs were exploding.”

When Emily Blunt was telling about breastfeeding of her first daughter, she said that apparently, her body was thinking that she has 12 kids instead of 1, “I could have been the wet nurse in medieval times.”

Blake Lively

“Having a baby is just living in the constant unexpected,” says the actress, who has 3 daughters. “You never know when you’re gonna get crapped on or when you’re gonna get a big smile or when that smile immediately turns into hysterics.”

Hilary Duff

The actress and the mother of 3 confessed that the biggest part of her parenting stress is connected with the feeling of guilt.

“There have been times when I’ve forgotten milk for my 18-month-old daughter. She’ll be out with me all day, and we’re sitting in traffic, and it’s time for her to have her milk, and she’s hysterical. And I’m here digging through my bag like, How could I forget her milk? I manage to give her milk at the same time every day. How did I blow that?

Once I was dropping off my eight-year-old son at school and I saw everyone in their normal, fun kid outfits instead of their uniforms. I had forgotten it was free dress day. Instantly it’s like, Oh my God, you failed.”

Keira Knightley

According to Keira Knightley, when becoming mothers, women go through a true physical and emotional marathon. And “acknowledging the difficulties motherhood presents doesn’t make her less of a good parent.” “It doesn’t mean I don’t love my kid, it’s just me admitting that the sleep deprivation, the hormonal changes, the shift in relationship with my partner, are all things that make me feel as if I’m failing on a daily basis,” she said. “I have to remind myself that I haven’t failed, I’m just doing what I can do, but it’s not easy.”

In 2019, Keira Knightley had her second daughter. “The baby, who I thought would be [sitting] and very easy to look after for quite a while, at 9 months just decided to get up and start walking. I think at any other point, I would’ve been like, ‘Whoa, my kid’s a genius!’ And as it was, I was just like, ’Sit down. We are not ready for this as well.’”

Chrissy Teigen

The model and TV host confessed that she tries not to give advice to other mothers because even insignificant words can have a very strong influence. “When I had my girl, I would kind of vent and complain that she didn’t feel like she was connecting with me, and I felt so sad that she wasn’t connecting with me, because I’m her mother and I spend so much time with her. And so many of my girlfriends were talking about how, wait until you have a little boy. A little boy is going to just love on you.

And then I had my little boy, and he wasn’t that way. And that was really tough for me to go through, just because of other mothers telling me that’s the way it was going to be. I was taught that this little boy would want nothing but his mommy, and that didn’t happen to me. And that’s when I started to realize, slowly, that there is no rhyme or reason. You just never know.”

Susan Sarandon

Susan Sarandon was criticized for having a baby at 39. The actress shared that the worst advice she ever got was “to forget about kids for the sake of her career.” “I had my first baby at 39 and my third at 45, and with each child, [people were] like, ’Are you crazy? Don’t!’”

Susan also advised future moms not to try to be perfect in everything. “Try to have the best time you can with the birth and everything else because it’s a pretty crazy, sci-fi adventure. Try not to think you have to be perfect.”

Jennifer Lopez

According to J. Lo, no one can imagine what being a mother is like until they become one. “I used to give my friends who have kids advice all the time, and they would look at me like I had three heads. And then, when I had you two, the minute I had you two, I literally apologized to all my friends.”

Aishwarya Rai

The actress and winner of “Miss World 1994” got in newspapers’ headlines after having appeared on the red carpet 6 months after childbirth. Everyone was talking about her curvy body. But she was trying not to pay attention to it.

“Suddenly, it’s okay to put on weight. It’s okay that your body changes physically from health reasons or otherwise, and it’s okay to choose to dress the way you want to,” shared the celebrity.

Penélope Cruz

Penélope Cruz confessed that “she wasn’t ’respecting’ herself by giving into society’s pressures after she gave birth.” She says that she “felt the pressure to look perfect only hours after she’d given birth and ’forgot’ to take care of herself.”

“The way I left the second were two different women. The first [time], I pushed myself to be superwoman like, ’I’ll do it natural birth and then twelve hours later I’m out of the hospital in high heels.’ That has nothing to do with feminism. I was not respecting myself by doing that,” the Oscar-winning actress adds.

Beyoncé

After having the twins, Beyoncé wrote a revealing essay where she explained how her body was changing. “I was 218 pounds the day I gave birth to the twins. My health and my babies’ health were in danger, so I had an emergency C-section. We spent many weeks in the NICU.

After the C-section, my core felt different. I needed time to heal, to recover. During my recovery, I gave myself self-love and self-care, and I embraced being curvier. I accepted what my body wanted to be. To this day my arms, shoulders, breasts, and thighs are fuller. I have a little mommy pouch, and I’m in no rush to get rid of it. I think it’s real.” Beyoncé’s experience of giving birth to twins was not unusual, as among celebrities there are many lucky ones who have become the parents of twins.

Rachel Weisz

“I think one of the things that moms aren’t allowed to talk about enough to one another ... is the times when you’re pulling your hair out at home with the kids,” said the actress and the mother of 2. “Those moments when everything is crashing in, and you feel like you’re going to scream.” Rachel thinks that moms lack the opportunity “to get together in regular groups to talk openly about their feelings of frustration, without fear of being judged.”

“I think there is sometimes too much pressure on us to be perfect moms, to be empathetic and loving all the time... Every woman needs a good girlfriend to be able to turn to and say, ’I just can’t deal with it all today.’”

Anne Hathaway

The actress who has 2 kids has honestly admitted that she had been fighting infertility. “All kidding aside, for everyone going through infertility and conception hell, please know it was not a straight line to either of my pregnancies.”

After her first childbirth, Anne Hathaway posted a photo of her jeans and urged women not to be ashamed of gaining weight. She wrote, “There is no shame in gaining weight during pregnancy (or ever). There is no shame if it takes longer than you think it will to lose the weight (if you want to lose it at all). There is no shame in finally breaking down and making your own jean shorts because last summer’s are just too dang short for this summer’s thighs. Bodies change. Bodies grow. Bodies shrink. It’s all love (don’t let anyone tell you otherwise).”

Amanda Seyfried

Amanda Seyfried has given birth twice. The actress is not shy about sharing stories and details from her experience. For example, her first birth lasted 24 hours. However, she says, it did not seem like such a long period. In comparison, she found breastfeeding to be incredibly difficult.

After five days, she was ready to give it up. The process was incredibly painful. Eventually, her doctors diagnosed her with mastitis. Seyfried said she came to associate breastfeeding with stress and pain.

Kelly Clarkson

“Pregnancy was literally the worst moments of my life. I’m not kidding — I wish I were that girl that had good memories of pregnancy. But no. Nope. Don’t miss it.” Kelly Clarkson has spoken openly about her negative experiences with pregnancy many times. The singer has been through it twice.

Today, with her daughter and son grown up, motherhood doesn’t seem like something scary to her. On the contrary, she enjoys it. The star has built an ideal relationship with her ex-husband, and despite the divorce, they are raising children together.

Jennifer Garner

There are some women, says Jennifer Garner, who quickly get into shape after childbirth. But this was not her experience. Her body has changed, and no matter how hard the star works on herself, it does not return to its former state.

On The Ellen DeGeneres Show, she once said that she is occasionally suspected of a new pregnancy because her body has changed so much. “I am not pregnant, but I’ve had three kids and there is a bump. From now on, ladies, I will have a bump, and it will be my baby bump. Let’s just all settle in and get used to it. It’s not going anywhere.”