Ashley Graham “saw blood literally everywhere” when birthing twins
The model has revealed that she almost died
Body-positive model, mum-of-three and podcaster, 34-year-old Ashley Graham revealed the birth to her twin boys – Roman and Malachi – on Instagram on 7 January 2022.
In the story she said they were were all happy and healthy, and that she was having some bonding time with her husband, photographer, Justin Ervin and their first-born son Isaac, and that “I truly can not wait to share more with you all.”
Four months later, she did just that when she told Glamour magazine that she lost so much blood during the home births that she almost died.
Ashley Graham and Justin Ervin have three boys and are careful to hide their faces in photographs.
In the early hours of that Friday, Ashley was experiencing contractions and headed to the bathroom to use the toilet. Little did she know that twin number one, Malaichi, was about to appear earthside.
Ashley’s doula arrived just in time to assist with Malachi’s birth and the family was soon celebrating the birth of Roman, two hours after his brother.
“We couldn’t believe the labor lasted just three and a half hours,” Ashley wrote in Glamour. And she acknowledged the “skilled, intelligent and trained professionals” who had helped her welcome not only her twins but her son Isaac, too.
Suddenly she felt very unwell and fell unconscious.
The mum-of-three didn’t leave the house for two months after the birth of her twin boys.
When she came round, still at home and surrounded by her medical care team, she couldn’t even sit up, let alone walk.
“Even though they didn’t want to go into the details at that moment, I looked around the room, saw blood literally everywhere, and let out this deep, visceral cry – an emotional release from the chaos I had just experienced,” she said.
The twin mama later found out that she’d haemorrhaged and lost litres of blood. The vein in her arm collapsed and the midwives had put pressure on her abdomen to try to curb the bleeding.
“Thank goodness the twins were fine, while I lay on that bed for four straight days. I couldn’t walk for a week. And I didn’t leave my house for nearly two months,” she revealed of the terrifying experience.
Ashley was fortunate not to have been left traumatised by the potentually life-changing births, saying “It was a period of time filled with the joy of being with my husband and my three sons, the rhythm of our new life, learning and laughter, acceptance and recovery.”
Ever honest, Ashley says that she is thankful that the skilled medical team saved her life and that it is “a miracle” and that she wants people to know her story so they might feel comfortable sharing their own.
In the interview, she also shared the sadness of having an early miscarriage in February 2021.
