Naomi Cooke Johnson shared that she “almost died giving birth to my daughter,” and it’s one of several life experiences that “changed my life forever.” She said it led to “profound” perspectives and a new approach of “being raw and gritty and sometimes painful,” when telling her stories.

The former Runaway June lead singer welcomed her daughter with husband Martin Johnson in 2023. Cooke Johnson said she feels “completely different” as a mom on a recent episode of Get Real with Caroline Hobby. The singer-songwriter told podcast host Caroline Hobby that she had an allergic reaction to Pitocin, a medication that helps induce labor, and ultimately gave birth via c-section, though she nearly didn’t make it.

“That was so scary,” Cooke Johnson said later in the podcast. “I had an at-home water birth planned and I started off that way. I went into labor, I was in labor for three days at home. It was really beautiful. I went in and out of labor. And we were dancing and cooking and I was in and out of the tub, and she [Cooke Johnson’s daughter] just wasn’t progressing. And I was 42 weeks and three days, so I had gone over. And my midwife was like, ‘there’s just something we’re not seeing. She’s in a weird position. I can’t get her to move. We have to transfer,’ because legally, she can’t deliver me at home anymore. ...I ended up getting on Pitocin trying to kickstart my labor back in, I had an allergic reaction.

“They put my baby on the chest and I felt this deep breath, like, ‘OK, I can go.’ I felt it,” she said of the “peaceful, warm feeling” she felt when she held her daughter for the first time. “I’m telling you — I’m gonna cry thinking about it because it’s so profound… I had just given birth. I had this (feeling) like, my purpose is fulfilled. I had just given birth to her. I was in a different headspace. …I was like, ‘I did my job.’”

Cooke Johnson said becoming a mother helped shift her songwriting perspective. She realized that if she hadn’t made it through childbirth, her daughter could one day stream her music and “she would never freaking know me at all, as a mother, as a daughter, as a child, as a wife. she would never know who I was by listening to those, you know, those songs where I’m trying to sell beer at a festival.” Now, she’s working on a full album that she describes as “autobiographical.” The record will follow recently-released songs “Bricks Make Houses” and “Mama Ain’t Jesus.”

The experience of becoming a mother was one of many stories Cooke Johnson shared with Hobby throughout the in-depth podcast conversation:

“Naomi grew up off the grid—one of 11 kids living in a converted school bus, traveling the country, and even spending time in a cult. She learned guitar as a child, playing at gas stations to help her family afford life on the road. Now a wife and mother, Naomi is opening up about the full truth of her past—and the moment that changed everything. After nearly dying during childbirth, she gained a profound new perspective on life. That experience sparked a deep inner shift, awakening a fierce feminine strength and emotional clarity that flows through her latest work. Her new songs, ‘Bricks Make Houses’ and ‘Mama Ain’t Jesus,’ are her most honest yet—music that embraces both the pain and the beauty of the road that led her here.”

Cooke Johnson previously opened up about her planned water birth, explaining that she and nine of her siblings were born at home, including five born in a bath tub. she said at that time, in part, that she’s “in awe of both ancient and modern birthing methods and filled with gratitude for the gift of experiencing both in one birth. …Childbirth is an incredible rite of passage for a woman. I’m proud to have made the journey and honored to be holding the ultimate reward.” She and her husband, frontman of The Night Game and Boys Like Girls, got married in July 2021 at Bald Mountain Camps Resort in Rangley, Maine.

Find Cooke Johnson’s full conversation with Hobby on Get Real here.

Brooke Taylor

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