Influencer Abby Howard opened up about her “redemptive birth” experience after facing a pregnancy loss.
Abby, 27, took to Instagram on Monday, August 24, to share footage of herself in the hospital getting ready to welcome her baby boy with husband Matt Howard.
“My redemptive birth (VBAC after loss),” Abby captioned the post, referring to a vaginal birth after cesarean. In the clip, she stood in an oversized tee and shorts while “having a contraction.”
“Oh my gosh,” she said while bending over. “It’s gonna be better if we just make jokes about it.”
She then held up a hospital gown, adding, “This time, I’m going to wear a bra. Last time I was leaking milk. that did not make me feel like the best version of myself.”
Abby later grabbed the camera from her husband, 28, and panned around the private room.
In the next clip, Abby was walking through a hall while taking deep breaths. Matt explained that her contractions were coming every “two minutes and nine seconds.”
Within the next few hours, Matt gave fans an update, sharing that her contractions were more “intense” now. “I think we’re getting kind of close,” he shared. Between her contractions, Abby was in high spirits and singing and dancing in the hospital hall.
“With every contraction, you’re one step closer to meeting our baby,” Matt reassured her. She then got an epidural, which instantly made her “feel better.”
After birthing her son, whose name she has not yet announced, Abby teared up and asked if he was “OK.”
“I’m so happy you’re here,” she gushed, after getting confirmation that he was healthy and weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces. Matt then cradled their newborn before ending the video.
Abby’s birth video comes after she and Matt announced that she suffered a pregnancy loss with their third baby, whom they named Emerson. (The couple are also the parents of sons Griffin, 4, and August, 3.)
“It is with very heavy hearts that we share about the loss of our baby girl born far too soon,” the pair wrote via Instagram in September 2025. “At a routine pregnancy appointment, our doctor could not find a heartbeat. Shortly after they sent us in for an ultrasound where the technician said words we will never forget, ‘I am so sorry I do not have good news.’”
Their statement continued, “That is when we got the gender reveal we never hoped for and also the news that our baby had a genetic condition that took her life around 17 weeks gestation.”
