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Josh Duhamel Reveals Wife Audra Mari Had A 'Really Hard' Childbirth Experience With Newborn Daughter Rocca

Josh Duhamel Details Wife Audra Mari’s ‘Really Hard’ Childbirth Experience With Baby Girl Rocca

Josh Duhamel and Audra Mari‘s journey expanding their family wasn’t easy!

For those who don’t know, the couple announced on Instagram in May that they welcomed their second child together — a baby girl named Rocca de Leon Duhamel. Ch-ch-check out the announcement (below):

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Audra Duhamel (@audramari)

Aww!

More than two months later, Josh is opening up about his wife’s childbirth experience the second time around, which, sadly, wasn’t smooth sailing! Audra was diagnosed with “placenta previa,” a condition during pregnancy that can cause “severe, possibly life-threatening vaginal bleeding,” per the Mayo Clinic. The 53-year-old actor explained on Live With Kelly and Mark on Thursday:

“[Childbirth was] not good. I mean, it was great ultimately, but it was really hard on Audra, to be honest. She had this thing called placenta previa, which means the placenta was sitting between the baby and the cervix. That’s how women used to bleed out back in the day. Thankfully, we have modern medicine and everything, so we knew it was there and we knew that we had to do a scheduled C-section.”

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Audra was scheduled for a cesarean on May 19. However, things didn’t go as planned. Josh recalled:

“Well, on the 15th, she has this dream where she wakes up to me tapping her on the nose like, ‘Wake up, wake up, wake up.’ And then she wakes up, and I’m just laying there sleeping. I won’t get into the gory details, but she said, ‘We got to go.’ So, we rushed into the car, raced through about five red lights, and then had the baby … two hours later.”

The situation must have been so scary! OMG! But the Ransom Canyon star wasn’t too worried about Audra and the baby! He knew they were in very capable hands:

“Sanford Medical Center in Fargo, North Dakota, is unbelievable. It is one of the most state-of-the-art hospitals in the country. So, we felt very confident and, you know, and now we have a beautiful baby girl.”

This marks Josh’s third child but his first girl! The pair share 2-year-old son Shepherd, while the Las Vegas alum has a 12-year-old son Axl with his ex-wife Fergie. And so far, everyone is adjusting well to a new baby in the household… somewhat! Josh shared his toddler’s reaction to having a sister now:

“He likes her, kind of, but he also accidentally kicks her in the head. He pretends he doesn’t mean to, but he does. … But yeah, [Rocca] is a little sweetheart. She just smiled yesterday for the first time.”

How sweet!

As for how the parents settled on her name, Rocca? Josh explained he named her after the Rococo and Baroque styles of art:

“My minor was art history in college, and for whatever reason [when I was on a recent flight], I was thinking about [the] Rococo and Baroque … periods of art history. I had always liked those two words, so I texted Audra and she liked it. Then, we sat on it for a few days and that’s how the name came to be. There’s no other significance other than that.”

What a beautiful name! And we’re glad both mom and child are OK following a tough birthing process! Watch the entire interview about Audra’s childbirth experience (below):

[Image via Audra Mari/Instagram, LiveKellyandMark/YouTube]

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Jul 24, 2026 15:41pm PDT