JESSA Duggar has decided to break away from her parent’s strict pregnancy rules by not revealing her child’s gender and will give birth in a “hospital setting” rather than at home.
The Counting On star has reached her third trimester in her fourth pregnancy with her husband Ben Seewald, 26.
Jessa, 28, gave her fans a “pregnancy update” in a new Youtube video as she decided to answer some questions about the process.
After one follower asked: “What is your birth plan for this baby?” the reality star explained how due to health complications she will not be having a home birth this time around.
“Ben and I talked this over a lot and we decided we are going to do a hospital birth this time.
“So that’ll be different. I’ve had three great home births, no complications with the birth itself, but I have had postpartum hemorrhage two times, with my first and my third.
“For that reason, we are choosing to do hospital birth so we won’t have to deal with the transport if I end up needing Pitocin,” she revealed.
Jessa then explained how her first choice would be to use a midwife, but in the state of Arkansas, they don’t allow home-birthers to administer Pitocin to mothers in need.
The Duggar family are fundamentalist Christians who believe in extreme modesty, and are not supportive of certain modern practices such as hospital births.
Most of the women of the family have opted for home birth, unless a medical complication has dictated otherwise.
Later in her confessional, Jessa also admitted that she would not be sharing the child’s gender with anyone before the birth.
After she was probed by a curious fan, she replied: “No, we are not. So Ben and I went back and forth and kept talking about it.
“I think since our kids are older now, we have a five-year-old and a four-year-old, we were thinking, well they would probably get really excited to know the baby’s gender,” she admitted.
“We planned like we were gonna tell them, but then the more we talked about it, we were like this has kind of been our tradition with every baby so far.
Jessa continued: “We find out the baby’s gender, and keep it a secret, and we surprise our family’s when the baby is born.
“Well obviously if you tell a four and five-year-old, nothing is going to be kept a secret anymore.
The young mom then explained how she and Ben “decided” they were “not going to tell” their kids before, and “when the baby is born we’re gonna tell them first.”
“Spurgeon and Henry will be the ones who will get to announce that to grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.”
Jessa and her husband Ben have kept all four of their kid’s genders a secret until birth and will continue to do so moving forward.
The TV personality’s due date is quickly approaching, and in late May she was seen with a huge baby bump while celebrating Memorial Day with family.
In a rare photo snapped at a barbecue, the mother of three wore a black tee-shirt, gray sweatpants, and Birkenstocks as she opted for a comfy-casual look.
The photo came as a bit of a surprise, as Jessa’s parents Jim Bob and Michelle also hold strict skirts and dresses only policy for their female family members.
