I was in survival mode for birth of my twins, says singer Beyonce
THE SINGER Beyonce has revealed she had an emergency Caesarean section with her twins because there was a risk to both her own and the babies’ health.
The singer welcomed son Sir Carter and daughter Rumi in June 2017 and has opened up about their birth for the first time in a wide-ranging Vogue interview in which she also discusses being descended from a slaveowner and having to process that over time and embracing her post-pregnancy body.
The star appears on the front of the September issue, which was shot by 23-year-old Tyler Mitchell, the first African American photographer to photograph a Vogue cover.
Discussing the birth of Sir Carter and Rumi, Beyonce said: “I was 218 pounds the day I gave birth to Rumi and Sir. I was swollen from toxemia and had been on bed rest for over a month.
“My health and my babies’ health were in danger, so I had an emergency C-section.”
The singer said they spent many weeks in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) and that her husband Jay Z was “a soldier and such a strong support system”.
“I am proud to have been a witness to his strength and evolution as a man, a best friend, and a father,” she said.
“I was in survival mode and did not grasp it all until months later.”
Beyonce said after having her daughter Blue Ivy in 2012, she put pressure on herself to shed the baby weight in three months.
She even “scheduled a small tour to assure I would do it” which, looking back, she said was “crazy”. The Single Ladies and Crazy In
Love singer was determined to do things differently after the twins and has embraced her curvier body.
“To this day my arms, shoulders, breasts, and thighs are fuller,” she said.
“I have a little mommy pouch, and I’m in no rush to get rid of it. I think it’s real.
“Whenever I’m ready to get a six-pack, I will go into beast zone and work until I have it.”