"I’m f**king dying": Kristin Cavallari details her "brutal" childbirth story, which felt like her vagina was "ripping in half"

Kristin Cavallari discussed her “brutal” childbirth story during the August 26, 2025, episode of her podcast Let’s Be Honest with Kristin Cavallari. Reflecting on the experience, the Laguna Beach star admitted that, despite wanting a natural delivery, the pain became unbearable and she had to take an epidural.

"I remember at the time being like, ‘I have nothing to prove, I know I’m strong and right now I’m f**king dying, I want the epidural,’" she said.

During the podcast episode, Kristin Cavallari shared that she was living in Chicago with her now ex-husband, Jay Cutler, when she was seven months pregnant with their son, Cam.

She explained that she “had false labor” two days before the birth. But once the true contractions began, the pain became overwhelming for her.

Her then-partner tried to time the contractions but insisted they were not close enough together to warrant a hospital trip. Cavallari, however, described herself as being in too much agony to wait.

"I’m like sitting there dying and he’s like, ‘well, you know, it hasn’t been a minute…and I was like, ‘F**k off. Literally f**k off. So, I ended up calling my doctor…and I had a contraction while I was on the phone, and that’s when they were like, ‘Okay, come in. Come in,’" Kristin Cavallari recalled.

Once at the hospital, Cavallari said she was forced to wait despite her intense pain because doctors initially could not find Cam’s heartbeat. Looking back, she felt grateful for not being informed about it at the time, admitting she would be "freaking the f**k out" if she knew.

When describing the delivery itself, Cavallari explained that while the epidural relieved the contractions, it did not shield her from the raw, physical reality of childbirth.

"What the epidural did for me was it took away the contractions, but it didn’t take away the feeling of my vagina literally feeling like it was ripping in half. Ripping in half," she said.

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What else did Kristin Cavallari say about the birth of her first child?

Kristin Cavallari (Image via Getty Images)

During the aforementioned podcast episode, Kristin Cavallari explained why, while giving birth to Camden, she opted for an epidural.

Cavallari said she was not entirely comfortable with the idea of having a drug administered into her body, particularly with the thought that some of it could reach the baby. But she admitted that at the moment, her priority was simply making it through labor.

"I got an epidural with all three of my kids. And I am okay with that... But with Cam, I was just trying to get by quite honestly," she added.

Reflecting on her younger self, Cavallari acknowledged that she was 25 when she had Camden. At the time, she was not as prepared as she is today to have a baby. She further admitted that if she were to give birth now, she would prefer a more natural approach.

"In my perfect head, I’m like, ‘if I had a baby today, it would be, you know, like a water birth and I would do it all naturally…But I was dying. I mean, I was dying with Cam," Kristin Cavallari explained.

The TV personality also emphasized that "at the end of the day", people should never "judge other moms" for their "birthing plan" and what they "end up doing" because "pain is different for everybody." She explained that everybody's "pain tolerance is different," so everyone’s birthing experience is also different.

During the podcast episode, Kristin Cavallari admitted that although the epidural eased her contractions, the pain was still intense. She recalled that Camden’s delivery, however, was relatively quick. She pushed for just "20 minutes" before he was born. She added that Camden was born around 1:30 am local time.

While the delivery left her exhausted, she noted that sleepless nights simply became part of her reality as a mother. She revealed that her sleep has never been the same since August 8, 2012, the day Camden was born. The actress further remarked that with her other children, Jaxon Wyatt and Saylor James, she had relatively easy births.

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Kristin Cavallari is now busy with her Let's Be Honest podcast. She also did an E! series called Honestly Cavallari: The Headline Tour, available on Peacock.