Halsey Felt Like 'A Failure' When She Couldn't Keep Down Prenatal Vitamins
“I was so angry with myself,” Halsey said of not being able to take prenatal vitamins
Mom guilt doesn’t wait for your baby to be born to start rearing its ugly head — it can start messing with you during pregnancy, too, as Halsey recently found out. The expecting singer shared they absolutely agonized over a bad experience with prenatal vitamins — and what mommy shamers would think about the situation.
Speaking to Allure magazine, Halsey (who uses she/they pronouns) decided to share something they felt would get them “slaughtered on the internet.” They were unable to take prenatal vitamins throughout their pregnancy because their stomach just couldn’t cope.
“I took them the first two months, and then the vomiting got really bad and I had to make a choice between taking my prenatals and throwing up or maintaining the nutrients I did manage to eat that day,” Halsey said.
“I went to my doctor, crying my eyes out, and I was like, ‘I haven’t taken my prenatals in six weeks. Is my baby okay?’ I was so angry with myself. ‘You have one f—ing job! One job! Take your prenatals! Your body’s doing everything else, you can’t even do that,’ “the star shared. “I felt like such a failure.”
It’s really sad, but not at all surprising, that a pregnant person would end up putting that much pressure on themself to do everything just right, even though it was literally making them miserable. Parenting culture can sometimes feel like this zero-sum game where if you’re not making every sacrifice you possibly can, you’re losing. Luckily, Halsey was able to break out of that mindset (their doctor saying the baby would be just fine without prenatals helped, I suspect) and is now feeling much more laidback as their due date draws nearer.
“When this pregnancy started, I was like, ‘You’re going to do yoga and eat flaxseed. You’re going to use essential oils and hypnobirth and meditate and f—ing journal every single day.’ I have done none of those things. Zero. None,” they explained. “I eat cookies and had a bagel every single day for the first five months of my pregnancy.”
Every single one of us would follow every recommendation about pregnancy and parenting if it were easy to do so — but it’s not. It can be really, really hard, and it can have profound effects on our physical, mental, and emotional well-being to keep trying to do everything “just right”, as Halsey found out. Whether it’s about prenatal vitamins, breastfeeding, or sleep training, there is no “just right” for the Judgy McJudgersons of the internet. Someone will always be coming for you and your choices. Like Halsey, all you can do is find your way and embrace it.
