Chris Rock, Mall Doula
I don’t know why I like this story. Maybe you can explain it to me. A pregnant women was shopping at Neiman Marcus at a New Jersey mall this weekend when her water broke. Apparently it was a pretty obvious splash because fellow-shopper Chris Rock noticed right away and came over to help.
According to the gossip pages, he used “humor” to lighten the situation.
If the woman’s water broke in the mall, she probably wasn’t in labor yet — though it wouldn’t have been far off — and her “social self” was probably still intact (women get pretty anti-social and turn inward in full-on labor). Which would mean that not only would humor be a nice way to cope with the weirdness of soaking underwear and pants in public, but the star sighting might actually have been a welcome distraction.
Though the “throngs of rubberneckers” who gathered around the celebrity and mother-to-be as she waited for the paramedics may have been a tad overwhelming.
I guess I like this story because you do feel sort of like the world should stop when your water breaks and join you in appreciating the overwhelming importance of the impending birth of your child. When I was about mere hours from giving birth, James Gandolfini gave me the most delicious, twinkly-eyed smile at Two Boots Pizza in the West Village. I had pulled off my sweater and accidentally flashed my impressive belly to the Soprano’s star, who was dining alone. My husband and I considered it a blessing. Pathetic in a way. But kind of funny. It’s such a heightened, stellar time, there should be a tiny bit of glamor involved. No?
But I digress. I think the real take-away of this story is that we need a movie starring Chris Rock as a male midwife. Or a doula. Doulo?
photo:Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos
male doula = dude-la