Sports Illustrated model and actress Brooklyn Decker revealed a very intimate and uncomfortable detail about asking her best friend to check on her vagina after giving birth to her first baby in 2015.
In the podcast show "Me Becoming Mom," the 34-year-old wife of tennis star Andy Roddick shared that she asked her best friend, Jen, this very unusual favor because she needed to know "what's happening down there." She had this idea to check because she had heard birth stories from other women who talked about stitches in their vagina after a natural delivery. Decker also went through a challenging postpartum recovery after having Hank, her first baby, now six years old.
Jen, who had never given birth at that time, agreed to take a look but realized that they both made a mistake because she now has a physical record of Decker's vagina that she could never unsee. However, Decker truly appreciated what her best friend did for her and proved that she could count on Jen even for the most uncomfortable moments.
Raising Awareness About Postpartum Recovery
In October 2021, Decker shared a photo of her first postpartum journey more than six years ago and stated that she lost so much blood, had some bruises, and needed to wear pads, wipes, and mesh in her underwear as her body had to recover from giving birth. Decker admitted she felt like a zombie one week after having Hank.
Undoubtedly, her experience was not the usual as she suffered from blood clots, but her nurse assured her that it was still within the body's normal reactions. She was not prepared for her body's response.
Decker said that mothers don't talk in-depth about what happens after childbirth, but she hopes that her experiences will help start the conversation and raise awareness about the physical and mental trauma of having children. She also said that she made kits for all of her closest girlfriends to know "all the gory details" and the realities of giving birth. She met and collaborated with the founder of Bodily, an organization that distributes recovery kits to moms at some hospitals.
Decker also talked about suffering from mastitis eight months into breastfeeding Hank in the same podcast episode. She learned that the underwire bras she wore for her TV work affected her milk production. Decker described the pain as the most horrible feeling and even cried one time because she realized she was bleeding off Hank as she was breastfeeding.
Second Pregnancy Challenges
Despite what she went through with her first birth, Decker and Roddick welcomed their daughter, Stevie, in 2018. While she had an easier time with the second birth, Decker dealt with another challenge -- clapping back at online trolls who criticized her body after having two kids, per Today.
Decker lost a lot of weight and became a "bag of bones" with a baby and toddler to look after. Her followers wondered what happened to her voluptuous body. The "Grace and Frankie" star opened up and said that she wondered the same thing and admitted that she misses her pre-pregnancy body as well. But now that she's a mom, her priorities are her kids, and she even made a joke about not having time to buy herself a decent bra anymore.
