Home is where the heart is, and where the birth is too these days. Statistics show that the home-birth rate increased 20 percent between 2004 and 2008 after a 15-year slide, and the delivery method is appealing to a wide range of women. Credit Ricki Lake for that. Her Business of Being Born book and documentary have turned a new generation of moms-to-be on to the movement. Check out 15 celeb moms who've opted out of the hospital experience to give birth to their lil ones at home.
Known for her spunky attitude as both Tracy Turnblad in the original movie Hairspray and her 11-year stint as a daytime talk show host, Ricki Lake, 43, is no stranger to weight issues. A few years ago, she dropped 140 pounds off her 270-pound frame, and although she might have gained some back, Dancing With the Stars is whipping her back into shape.
Ricki told Ellen DeGeneres on her show that airs today, "I lost more than 13 inches in a month. It's crazy." She's dropped about 15 pounds so far, and that includes five inches from her waist and five from her hips. She owes it all to her dance partner, Derek Hough, who encourages her to move more, boasting that, "The Derek Hough diet is the best. It's hardcore." She adds,
"[DWTS pros and execs] say it's the hardest thing you will ever do and you're like, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've done hard: I had my baby in my bathtub at home' and yet we work out all day long. We are sweating all over each other!"
Ricki Lake told US weekly, "I am really getting in great shape. I will be wearing less and less clothing the smaller I get. I am feeling more comfortable in my own skin."
Like DWTS alums Kelly Osbourne and Kirstie Alley, it's amazing to watch someone slim down right before our eyes. I'm rooting for Ricki, hoping she's able to stay on the show week after week, shaking her booty and shedding those pounds.
Photo courtesy of ABC
Ahh love. Finding that special person makes life so much better, but unfortunately falling head over heels can make you fall off the healthy wagon. Season 13 Dancing With the Stars contestant Ricki Lake has always been very public about her weight issues, and she shares with Us Weekly:
"I fell in love last year . . . I didn't gain a lot of weight but I feel like I could lose about 15 pounds. I'm going to be careful. It's going to be weird, because having dealt with weight issues my whole life and you think deprivation, starving yourself — but I can't do that if I'm dancing six hours a day. I'm just going to be really conscious of it. For the first time it won't be about the pounds, it'll be about strength and my body. I'm up for the challenge."
When you first meet someone, you spend so much time together that you tend to skip out on your workouts. Plus you go out to eat a lot, share bottles of wine and plates of strawberry cheesecake, and chow down on takeout in front of a movie — no wonder your jeans feel tight. It doesn't help that you feel so comfortable and loved by the person that you think, "Why work out when he loves me no matter what size I am?" I guess it depends on the relationship and how strong-willed you are when it comes to sticking to your healthy ways, but like Ricki, do relationships cause you to gain weight? If so, tell us in the comments how you got back on track.
There's a job opening for a noncertified therapist to the masses! Oprah may have mentored Tyra Banks, but Tyra's finished with talk shows. Gayle King, editor at large for O magazine, best friend to Oprah, and current talk show host on OWN seems like an apparent heir, but is not. At least not according to ABC, who's losing its daytime queen, and NBC, who's circling above to swoop in and fill the daytime void.
Nobody can replace Oprah, but networks hope to launch the next big talk show. Katie Couric's contract with CBS expires in June, and the word is she's met with NBC and ABC to discuss talk shows. After spending five years as the anchor of CBS Evening News, she seems like a serious choice, but Katie always shined best in the morning as cohost of Today.
Meanwhile, Ricki Lake remains a contender. She's been trying to get a talk show since 2005, the year after her first long-running one ended. After discussing it on Oprah and The View late last year, she's been getting serious interest from the three major networks.
Personally, I would like to see the two, among others, duke it out in a competitive reality show called America's Next Daytime Queen, but no network will take my tweets. So until then the choices are Katie and Ricki — who's yours?
Known for her spunky attitude as both Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray and her 11-year stint as a daytime talk show host, Ricki Lake has reinvented herself as a women's birthing advocate. Following the release of her documentary about the shifting of the American mindset from home and drug-free deliveries to medicated hospitalized births where Lake chronicled her own son's home birth, she and director, Abby Epstein, penned Your Best Birth ($18). The text is a guide to natural delivery and birthing options.
We had the opportunity to chat with Lake, mama of two — Milo, 12, and Owen, 7 — about labor and delivery, c-sections and motherhood.
lilsugar: Is it hard for women to convince their families that a natural birth, or midwife, is the way to go?
Ricki Lake: I think it is really hard. There's still the stigma attached and very much less than one percent of people have home births. It's not something that’s talked about. If you go to the Netherlands, this is the norm. I think in Holland 30 percent of births are planned home births and they have a better infant mortality rate and maternal death rate. Midwives handle most of the births. So it's just not in our culture to really be open to it. I’m not on a mission to get everybody to deliver at home. I’m on a mission to talk about informed choice in this area.
lilsugar: Did you believe this would be your calling?
Ricki Lake: No! I was looking for something to speak on and be passionate about and this is the natural fit because of my experiences and because there was a lack of a voice. I thought — this is where I can serve, I can do something that I feel is positive. I’m not telling women what to do, I’m just trying to educate them and understand that having the ideal be a birth where you’re an active participant, whatever that is – if it's “don’t take my baby away from me,” or “don’t give me that epidural yet,” or “give me that epidural now.” I mean whatever it is, to not be a number in this conveyor belt.
To read what Ricki had to say about VBACs and mothering her sons, read more
At 40 years old, Ricki Lake is a new person since she's dropped 140 pounds from her former 270-pound self, and has kept it off for over a year. She says, "I can’t believe I was a fat person for most of my life." She didn't have surgery; her dramatic weight loss was made possible by all her hard work. Ricki is active, watches what she eats, and has organic meals delivered by Fresh Dining. Not having to prepare her own meals is a luxury that many of us can't afford, but it sure has done her a world of good.
This mother of two told People magazine, "I'm not a thin girl. I’m a normal girl. I don’t want to perpetuate that obsession but yet I am also guilty of wanting . . . to lose weight." She's happy that she's a healthy size, and even though she's maintaining her figure, she says "Something tragic in my life could happen and I could balloon and gain weight. I can’t promise I will be like this forever." It makes me feel better to know that even though she's a celeb, she's still human, and she has to work just as hard as the rest of us to stay in shape.
Yesterday was not only the festive tequila filled Cinco de Mayo. It was also International Midwives Day. Coincidentally, Ricki Lake's movie, The Business of Being Born was released on DVD.
For those of you who are considering a natural or home birth, check out the $28 flick for an up close glimpse at the process. The former talk show host shares her personal home birth in the film inspiring women to reevaluate their birthing plans.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick were matching in pretty blue at last night's premiere of his new movie Then She Found Me in NYC last night. His costar and director, Helen Hunt looked smokin' in her skin tight gold number as she posed with a dressed down Matthew Perry. This little comedy looks like an adorable take on finding what, and who is right for you, something the other half of the SJP-Broderick couple will be tackling on the big screen soon too. While the similarities between this and Sex and the City end there — forgive me, I'm a little giddy from getting yet another new preview last night. Spring is here and love movies are definitely in the air.
To see more of the premiere including Carson Kressley, Colin Firth, Jessica Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld and more just read more
Former talk show host Ricki Lake executive produced Abby Epstein's documentary, The Business of Being Born. The film which has enjoyed all sorts of critical acclaim and press, just opened in New York City where Ricki Lake and Keri Russell were spotted hobnobbing outside the theater at its debut.
To learn more about the fascinating documentary, read more
