
Domino Kirke Assisted a Birth Days After Her Own Miscarriage
Penn Badgley's wife opened up about suppressing severe grief, revealing how pushing through trauma damaged her health and personal relationships.
By Nina BrooksPublished Updated 2 min read
Domino Kirke is getting brutally honest about one of the most agonizing moments of her career and personal life. The musician and professional birth worker, who is married to *You* star Penn Badgley, took to social media to share a raw reflection on pushing through catastrophic grief—including the time she supported a laboring mother just days after suffering a second-trimester miscarriage. Taking to Instagram on Friday, September 4, the 42-year-old detailed the aftermath of her pregnancy loss and the subsequent medical procedure. Rather than taking time off to heal physically and emotionally, Kirke briefly rested at home, wrote a song called "Mercy" on her piano, and rushed straight back to the delivery room. She revealed she was still actively bleeding while guiding her client through labor. ## What did Domino Kirke say about her miscarriage? Reflecting on her mindset at the time, Kirke admitted she felt an unhealthy compulsion to act like a savior instead of calling in backup from fellow doulas. She recalled pushing through exhaustion and trauma in the middle of the night, fueled entirely by adrenaline and a deep-seated belief that she needed to put everyone else first. However, prioritizing her job over her own physical and mental recovery exacted a heavy toll. Kirke shared that overextending herself destroyed her personal boundaries and eventually triggered an autoimmune disease. She also acknowledged that hiding from her agony severely strained her personal life, impacting her friendships as well as her relationships with her husband and her child. ## How did Domino Kirke deal with her grief? Looking back, Kirke recognized that her hyper-fixation on work was a defense mechanism designed to keep her from facing her immense loss. Avoiding her emotional reality worked only temporarily; she recalled eventually breaking down in tears months later while in the middle of teaching a doula training course. Kirke is the mother of 17-year-old son Cassius from her previous relationship with Morgan O'Kane. She and Badgley, 39, married in 2017 and share a 6-year-old son along with twin boys born in September 2025. Her honest confession serves as a stark reminder of the physical and emotional cost of burying trauma in the name of productivity.
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People also ask
- Who is Domino Kirke married to?
- Domino Kirke has been married to actor Penn Badgley, best known for his roles in You and Gossip Girl, since 2017.
- What does Domino Kirke do for a living?
- Domino Kirke is a singer, musician, and professional doula who offers birth support and doula training courses.
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