Jill Duggar: ’19 Kids and Counting’ Star Talks C-Section Recovery, Criticized for Use of Baby Sling

Jill Duggar of 19 Kids and Counting fame is in the news again. Not only is the young mom of new baby, Israel David Dillard, dishing on the recovery process from her recent C-section, she is also being...
Jill Duggar: ’19 Kids and Counting’ Star Talks C-Section Recovery, Criticized for Use of Baby Sling
Written by Kimberly Ripley

Jill Duggar of 19 Kids and Counting fame is in the news again. Not only is the young mom of new baby, Israel David Dillard, dishing on the recovery process from her recent C-section, she is also being criticized for use of a baby sling.

“I am getting better,” Jill said regarding her C-section, in a recent interview with People magazine. “I am still recovering. I am trying not to overdo it.”

Hubby Derick Dillard has gone back to work, but that doesn’t mean Jill Duggar has been left to her own devices, caring for her new baby and healing, too.

“I am so grateful for the help of my family,” she says. “I have had one of my sisters, my mother or Derick’s mother here with me most of the time now that Derick has gone back to work. It is really a blessing to have family close by to reach out to.”

Jill Duggar has been off pain meds since about a week after Israel was born.

“One day I felt really good and I did too much that day and the next day, I paid for it,” she says. “The pain around my incision depends on what I’ve done that day and if I’ve rested enough or not.”

19 Kids and Counting matriarch Michelle Duggar has been a wealth of advice. Michelle had four C-sections.

“She has such great practical advice,” Jill says. “All the repercussions of a C-section are new to me, and she is such a huge blessing.”

Derick Dillard’s mom, Cathy, has been very supportive of Jill Duggar, too.

“Derick’s mom was saying that a year ago it was her first week in the hospital with cancer,” Jill says. “She says she feels so grateful to be able to be here and help out. It is so wonderful, the perspective she has.”

Fortunately little can mar the joy Jill Duggar feels about being a new mom–not even the recent scrutiny she came under when a photo of her carrying Israel in a baby sling caused some controversy. Good Morning America discussed the concerns of these carriers during a segment of their show.

“The big issue with a sling is the risk of suffocation,” Dr. Richard Besser, who is ABC News’ chief health and medical editor, said. “There are some babies who are at greater risk. If your baby’s premature or small for their age, or [in] the first four months of life or they have any cold at all, don’t use a sling.”

He added that when used correctly, however, that these slings are a good way for a mom to have her baby close, and her hands free.

Jill Duggar was asked to comment on the GMA segment, but declined.

There is no way the 19 Kids and Counting star would ever do anything to harm her baby. Jill Duggar is studying to become a midwife, so she certainly is up on the recent dangers of raising babies.

Hopefully this criticism of Jill doesn’t discourage her in any way. She needs to concentrate on healing from her C-section and then getting ready for yet another member of the 19 Kids and Counting family to join the gang. Sister Jessa Duggar recently announced that she and hubby Ben Seewald are expecting. Maybe Jill will share that sling with Jessa when she’s done using it?

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