Gigi Hadid Said Her Family Were "In Terror" As She Gave Birth at Home

Hadid gave birth without an epidural.

us model gigi hadid presents a creation for fashion house versace during the presentation of its womens and mens springsummer 2020 fashion collection in milan on june 15, 2019 photo by miguel medina afp photo credit should read miguel medinaafp via getty images
(Image credit: James Devaney)

Gigi Hadid shared new details about giving birth to daughter Khai, her first child with boyfriend Zayn Malik, in her March cover interview with Vogue. Hadid revealed that she opted for a home birth, as mom Yolanda Hadid and sister Bella Hadid would be unable to accompany her to the delivery room due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The supermodel further shared that Malik, Yolanda, and Bella were "in terror" as she gave birth.

Gigi told Vogue that Malik, Yolanda, Bella, a local midwife, and the midwife's assistant accompanied her as she gave birth without an epidural at her Bucks County, Pennsylvania home last September. "I had to dig deep," she said. "I knew it was going to be the craziest pain in my life, but you have to surrender to it and be like, 'This is what it is.' I loved that."

"There definitely was a point where I was like, 'I wonder what it would be like with an epidural, how it would be different,'" Gigi added. "My midwife looked at me and was like, 'You’re doing it. No one can help you. You’re past the point of the epidural anyway, so you’d be pushing exactly the same way in a hospital bed.'"

Gigi said her family were terrified as she gave birth, with Malik comparing the experience to a scene in a nature documentary he'd watched, in which a female lion gives birth in a cave as a male lion worries outside. "Z was like, 'That’s how I felt! You feel so helpless to see the person you love in pain,'" Gigi said.

"I know my mom and Zayn and Bella were proud of me, but at certain points I saw each of them in terror," the supermodel shared. "Afterward, Z and I looked at each other and were like, 'We can have some time before we do that again.'"

Ultimately, Khai's birth went exactly as she'd hoped, Gigi said. "She was so bright right away," she told the magazine. "That’s what I wanted for her, a peaceful bringing to the world."

RELATED STORIES
Emily Dixon
Morning Editor

Emily Dixon is a British journalist who’s contributed to CNN, Teen Vogue, Time, Glamour, The Guardian, Wonderland, The Big Roundtable, Bust, and more, on everything from mental health to fashion to political activism to feminist zine collectives. She’s also a committed Beyoncé, Kacey Musgraves, and Tracee Ellis Ross fan, an enthusiastic but terrible ballet dancer, and a proud Geordie lass.