Christy Turlington and Kelly Corrigan Give Birth to Podcast Celebrating Moms — and Jennifer Garner Is the First Guest!

Christy Turlington Burns and Kelly Corrigan live behind each other in New York. However, for the first time they came together halfway around the world.

Earlier this year, Turlington Burns’s Every Mother Counts, a non-profit organization that advocates for safe maternal and postpartum health care, organized an Educational Trip to Tanzania, one of the most dangerous countries in the world to give birth. Corrigan, The New York Times bestselling author, podcaster and presenter Tell me more on PBS joined the trip to see EMC’s work in action.

“Kelly just had the most practical questions: What happens when there’s no mom to feed them? What happens when mom can’t take them to school or what happens when they’re sick?,” Turlington Burns, 55, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue.

Corrigan, 56, says she was “deeply drawn” to Christy’s expertise.

“I watched Christy interact with these hospitals, these gynecologists, these midwives and doulas, these community activists and Maasai women — they know she’s coming back,” she shares. “They know it’s not a party. They know she is informed. That caught my attention more than anything else—their familiarity with her.”

Christy Turlington Burns on the Every Mother Counts Africa 2024 trip.

Corrigan also points out that in any society, the absence of a mother figure often requires expensive social services to step in.

“When I think about the support that naturally flows from mother to child, and then think about how that work is intersected by teachers, coaches, counselors, teachers and social workers in the absence of a mother, I understand in a new way what Christy means when she says that every mother matters ,” he says. “It is impossible to replace us.”

That idea led to their new podcast, Kelly Corrigan Wonders: About your mother, featuring guests like Cindy Crawford, Amy Schumer, Spike Lee and Bono, who reveal intimate details about their relationships with their mothers and the life lessons these women imparted, with the goal of raising $100,000 for EMC. Jennifer Garner begins the debut episode on May 8.

One of the themes that resonated with Turlington Burns: “’Practical’ was the word Cindy and Jen used to describe their moms. You don’t think of practicality as warm and fuzzy, but I would describe myself as a practical person. Well, if my children described me like that, it would mean that they know me. When someone is practical, that’s someone you know you can trust.”

The model, who recently opened Ralph Lauren’s fall fashion show, is the mother of daughter Grace (20) and son Finn (18) with her husband, actor and filmmaker Ed Burns.

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She experienced a rare postpartum hemorrhage after Grace’s birth in 2003, which prompted her to start EMC in 2010.

“Even though it was scary and painful, I was cared for by very capable people,” he tells PEOPLE. “Everyone should have that level of care.”

Christy Turlington Burns, founder of Every Mother Counts.

Sarah Waiswa is important for every mother

Since then, Turlington Burns has traveled the world to raise awareness, and EMC has invested more than $42 million to make pregnancy and childbirth safer and fairer.

“I’m always knocked out when people take all the attention the world gives them and reflect it on something else,” Corrigan — who is mother to daughters Claire, 21, and Georgia, 22 — says of Turlington Burns’ activism. “She is one of the world’s experts on maternal health.”

Christy Turlington Burns and a traditional midwife hold babies in Guatemala during the Every Mother Matters 2019 trip.

Janet Jarman for every mother

And Turlington-Burns is proud that the change she envisioned is starting to happen.

“When I look back at the world as it was in 2010, nobody was talking about maternal mortality,” she says. “The maternal health crisis in the U.S., especially the black maternal health crisis—those words were not being spoken when we started this business. It feels good to play such a big role in bringing attention to this issue.”

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Starting the podcast also made her reflect on her relationship with her mother, Elizabeth, 84, who was widowed at a young age and mourned her mother’s death shortly after.

“I remember my mom saying that she felt uninhibited when her mom died. . . . Your mother can really be your north star professionally, emotionally, spiritually.”

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Turlington Burns was a North Star star for her daughter. Not only has Grace participated in EMC trips, but she has also followed in her mother’s footsteps, modeling on the catwalk for Alberta Ferretti and British Vogue x LuisaViaRoma.

Grace Burns and Christy Turlington Burns attend Kering’s 2nd Annual Caring for Women Evening on September 12, 2023 in New York City.

Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan via Getty

“She usually tells me afterwards!” Turlington Burns says. “It’s exciting. . . . I support everything.”

As for how Turlington Burns will celebrate Mother’s Day, which also marks EMC’s “birthday”?

“As a mom, I want to rest – Sundays are holy,” she says. “As the founder and president of the organization, it’s a working day.”

Every mother is important, working to make pregnancy and childbirth safe for everyone, everywhere. To donate, go to everymothercounts.org/donate. Listen to a special five-part podcast series, created in collaboration with Kelly Corrigan wonderswherever you get your podcasts.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education