Skip to Content

Kate Middleton And The Royal Baby: The Dangerous Media Coverage For Moms

I have to warn you about something before you continue to read this post about Kate Middleton and the new royal baby. I might be a little bitter about this subject because I have my own personal filter and lens on the subject. I was not one of those moms who had easy pregnancies. In fact, I suffered through three very high-risk births. My journies took me in and out of hospitals and placed me on bed rest for 5 months at a time. Yes, you’ve done the math correctly. 15 months of bed rest in total. 2 months of which I spent in the hospital while I was baking Liam. Very rocky roads.

I wasn’t allowed to stand up – forget about leaving my house. There aren’t even many pictures of me during these stages because I was always in pajamas without makeup.

And depressed.

And crying.

But that’s another story for another day.

Kate Middleton And The Royal Baby

Related: How to Survive Bed Rest – 15 Tips

I didn’t cheat either. I would only get up to go to the bathroom or shower. I knew it was important and so I treated it like it was my job. I had to do what I could to save my baby’s life. And so I did… nothing.

When I finally HAD my children, I was always weak. I mean –  completely out of shape. My body was in shock. It was moving again after 5 months of nothing. I could barely function – forget about looking like a human. So, to see Kate Middleton walk out of her hospital in a brand new dress and in heels and with perfectly blown out hair… it almost enrages me. But for a few different reasons.

Why The Kate Middleton Royal Baby Media Coverage Isn’t Good For Anyone

Kate Middleton is tired. She doesn’t want to put on that show. She doesn’t want to wear heels. We all know this. I don’t care how fashionable you are. Believe me, I like to get dressed up! I will wear stilettos to a ballpark. Ah, who am I kidding? I’m not going to a ballpark! You couldn’t PAY ME to leave the hospital in heels after having a baby. But there she was – in heels. After giving birth with a huge smile. That was insanity. I don’t care if she is royal or not. That expectation / that bar is set way too high. It doesn’t help anyone. It really doesn’t. It’s 2018. Put on some flats. I don’t care what the Queen wants.

Kate Middleton – do what you want to do! You’ve already married in and there is nothing they can do now. This is baby number three.

I actually felt really sorry for her when I saw her standing there. I’m not judging Kate Middleton because I don’t believe it was her choice. I can’t imagine any woman on the planet choosing to put on a show like that. I understand she married into something bigger than herself, but that moment should have been toned down just a bit. Flats wouldn’t have killed anyone. Or wedges! I mean, couldn’t we have put the poor woman in wedges?

Heels? And steps?

I hope to God she had a natural birth! Imagine having a c-section and needing to deal with heels and steps a few days after the surgery? All while dozens of reporters were snapping away? Are you kidding me?

As far as Kate Middleton’s hair and makeup went – I confess that I wouldn’t have minded a staff on hand to fix me up. In fact, the hospitals should smarten up and start offering some sort of service to new moms so they can leave looking and feeling their best. A Glam Squad if you will? Maybe some sort of Dry Bar partnership with all hospitals should cook up after this big press push? I don’t know. That part just made me jealous that I didn’t have it. On a cellular level!

The hair/makeup isn’t’ making me feel bad about myself like the heels are though. This much I know!  I could have called someone in if I really wanted to. The heels and the dress and everything else would have LITERALLY been IMPOSSIBLE for me to pull off. That’s the part that I feel is actually dangerous because that’s the part that is unrealistic for the everyday woman. I hope Kate is in pajamas today. Truly.

We are already dealing with over-photoshopped images and storylines in magazines. Everything is filtered. Everything is edited to an inch of itself. I don’t need to see someone pushing themselves to their limit in order to show just how perfect they are when we all know what life really feels like. My thoughts are with the new moms-to-be watching her and thinking they need to replicate that moment. My thoughts are with moms like me who walked out of the hospital with buns in their hair and sweatpants on. My thoughts are with moms who had a loss and walked out of the hospital empty handed.

Am I thinking too much about Kate Middleton and the way the royal baby was presented? Maybe I am? I don’t know?

But it’s just so hard for me to swallow. I know it’s because the images are plastered on every news outlet and on rotation. I can’t escape them. I’m truly so happy for Kate Middleton and her family! A baby is a wonderful thing. I don’t want to put out any other vibe if it seems that way. If I didn’t have such difficult pregnancies, I probably would have tried for one more child. I hope she has another!! But I don’t think I will read anymore coverage because I acknowledge how it makes me feel.

Here’s A Hard Truth

I don’t care much about the Royal Family. My mother was born in Europe and the day that Princess Diana died is a day I will never forget. I was very young and my mother was absolutely beside herself. She wept. She flipped out. She mourned that woman. She was lost. It really affected her. That day was a day that I learned that the Royal Family was important. I had never thought about them before and seeing my mother so upset showed me that apparently, I needed to care about these people. Fast forward to today and I guess deep down inside I still look to them to some degree but I don’t follow their every move. The fact that they are having children is interesting to me. The fact that they are marrying is interesting to me. Beyond that, I really don’t keep up with Kate Middleton or what she does. I do like her fashion. That much is true. But I don’t know where she goes or what she eats or what charities she is aligned with. I am just not that invested.

However, the royal baby births sort of draw me in. I will confess that to you all. But I wish that they didn’t. Because they don’t make me feel very good about myself. And that’s why I stopped writing about celebrity gossip a few years back. None of it ever left me filled with joy. Seeing Kate Middleton holding her brand new royal baby in her perfect dress with her perfect hair standing literally next to her prince knowing that I only have a few pictures like the one above does not make me feel good about myself. So, why then would I continue to pursue that subject?

Kate Middleton And The Royal Baby

I knew Caleb was going to be my last baby in the hospital before I even had him! I knew it was my last rodeo. I KNEW I was never going to return to L&D and I STILL didn’t make a big show out of it. Of course, it was all before Instagram and Pinterest took over our lives. Honestly, thank goodness for that! And I’m also not SPECIAL or ROYAL. I’m special to my children… but not to the world.  Kate Middleton knows she has a million eyes on her every move and I feel sorry for her – especially during these very personal times. I hope she can find some privacy to enjoy her new bundle of joy. I truly do. I also hope that the crown doesn’t make her start galavanting around town next week to prove how strong and ready she is to jump back on the horse.

It Comes Down To Our Experiences

I tell this story all the time to people.

When I was younger, my cousin’s mother had a balloon pop in her eye. She was blowing it up, it popped, and went right in her eye. It did some major damage. She had to go to the hospital and ended up wearing a patch for several months. It completely traumatized me! As an adult, I am now utterly afraid of balloons. I am the freak mom at the birthday party who rushes to her children and snatches balloons out of their hands while screaming at them about “weapons of destructions.”

I warn them to not use them – to keep them away from their faces – to never use them around friends – to stay clear away from me. Balloons are dangerous!! Meanwhile, all the other kids and their parents look at me like I am a total freak.

It’s because it’s my experience. I had a bad experience with balloons. I own it. No one else has.

So, you might be reading this and thinking that I am utterly insane. You might be thinking – Kate Middleton looked fabulous in her heels as she held her new royal baby! How could you think otherwise? Well, I would argue that you had a pretty clean and easy pregnancy then. Am I right? I think it all comes down to our personal lenses.

Again, I have nothing against Kate Middleton! I really don’t. I wish her a lifetime of love and happiness. I wish her a lifetime of heels and stilettos and short skirts and red lipstick. She can wear whatever the heck she wants. That’s my point! WHAT SHE WANTS. If she wanted to wear heels right after giving birth, then this entire article is WAY OFF. But I just cannot imagine any woman would. I’ve had one c-section and two VBACs. I’ve don’t it both ways. Heels just weren’t ever on the menu.

Marla Murasko

Wednesday 25th of April 2018

My experience was very different as well, but maybe because my son was so fragile with a congenital heart defect and Down Syndrome. I had a c-section so I was in the hospital for four days.

So for me I was happy that I could get up and take a shower to put my nice comfortable sweatpants, just to sit in an ambulance while my baby was being transported to a hospital for surgery.

So my experience was different indeed. But making sure I had makeup and all was not my priority. If I could get my hair and teeth brushed was a plus, but get my son through surgery was my priority.

So I agree with you. As much as I love Kate and am very happy for them, I do think it is sending the wrong message to new Moms.

Comments are closed.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.