What’s it like to give birth to six children? According to Antonia Kidman it’s sheer euphoria.
The 42-year-old TV presenter and author — who recently welcomed her sixth child, Alexander — discusses kids and childbirth in the June issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
“You know that adrenaline rush you get after exercising really hard? Like after a really long run? That feeling of euphoria? That’s what it’s like for me after childbirth,” she says.
“Which is why I’ve always refused epidurals or drugs during birth. I want to feel it all and, above all, not miss out on that feeling of euphoria.”
Antonia has four children from her previous marriage to Angus Hawley and two from her current marriage to Craig Marran.
The eldest child is 14, the youngest is five months. She’s 42 and has either been pregnant or with a newborn or toddler in her arms pretty much constantly since the age of 28.
She drives an eight-seater car. If there were a poster girl for motherhood in Australia — a high-profile embodiment of fertility — Antonia Kidman would be it. And the pressing question is why? Why so many kids? And the next question is how? How does she cope with so many children?
“People tend to make more of a fuss about it than it really deserves,” Antonia says. “I mean, it was only a couple of generations ago that families of eight or 10 were the norm. It’s only recently that our families have gotten smaller.
“At the end of the day, we’re no different from any other family, except that we have an eight-seater car and a couple of our kids share a room.
“Sure, there’s a bit of crowd control involved and there’s probably less opportunity for one-on-one parenting, but then because we are a blended family there is a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, especially of my first four kids, who travel often to spend time with their dad. So, everything is always shifting, which is quite nice because I like that the family dynamic is always changing.”
So are Antonia’s baby-making days finally over? “I suppose you can never say never,” she says.
Antonia Kidman’s latest book, The Simple Things: Creating An Organised Home, A Happy Family And A Life, co-authored by Sally Collings, published by HarperCollins, $35, is available now.
Read more of this story in the June issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
