Gwyneth Paltrow reveals she 'almost died' when giving birth to her 1st child

Paltrow also discussed pressures new moms experience about their body.

October 27, 2021, 1:12 PM

Gwyneth Paltrow shared a little-known story about how she "almost died" when giving birth to her daughter Apple back in 2004.

Speaking on Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast, the Oscar winner opened up about the traumatic labor, which she said lasted 70 hours.

"I had two caesareans. My daughter was an emergency," said Paltrow, 49. "It was crazy. We almost died. It was, like, not good."

The "Iron Man" star declined to go into details over the complications she suffered and instead reflected on how the pregnancy physically changed her.

"Anyway, there's a big scar across your body, and you're like, 'Oh, wow, that didn't use to be there,'" Paltrow remarked. "And it's not that it's bad, or you want to judge it, but you're just like, 'Oh, my God.'"

The Oscar winner said she is thankful she became pregnant before the rise of social media and reflected on how the internet pressures new moms to get back to their pre-pregnancy body quickly.

Said the mom of two, "Thank God there wasn't Instagram when I had babies because now it's like, if I see someone, 'Oh, I just gave birth two weeks ago and I have a completely washboard stomach,' and I'm like, 'Wow that's not what I [did]!'"

Paltrow, who said she was not shaming other women or their bodies, expressed concern that this mentality is pitting moms against each other by making birth an unnecessary competition.

The Goop founder shares Apple, who is 17, and 15-year-old son Moses with ex-husband Chris Martin.