Of all the ‘80s models, I can’t really say that Christy Turlington ever made my top-five favorites. Christy is beautiful, no doubt, but she really wasn’t “fun” or scandalous. In fact, she was so uncontroversial that she ended up using her good-girl image to create a new model archetype, one that’s being used these days by the likes of Karlie Kloss and some others. Just FYI: my favorite model from that era was easily Linda Evangelista. Linda was an enigma, she was fierce, she was a mess. She was amazing.

Anyway, in the years since the model mania of the ‘80s and ‘90s, I’ve grown to respect Christy more and more. She’s always done her own thing and followed her own path. She’s currently the founder and face of Every Mother Counts, an “organization dedicated to raising awareness about issues women face in pregnancy and childbirth.” Christy covers the new issue of Red to raise more awareness. Some highlights:

Why she founded Every Mother Counts: ‘I experienced complications myself after I delivered my daughter, Grace, and I guess my own experience of childbirth was the epiphany. What I realised was actually how lucky I had been, that so many women don’t even get to choose when they become pregnant. They don’t get to choose how many children they have. They don’t get to choose whether they will be medicated, or have a natural birth. This is just how it is, and it’s not an ideal way to bring life into the world, I don’t think.’

The mortality rates for women giving birth: ‘If I have a goal, it’s for as many people as possible to be aware that this is an everywoman issue. For example, it’s shocking, but the US is actually one of eight countries around the world where maternal death rates are on the rise. So this is not just a problem in the developing world.’

She’s going to run her fourth marathon this year: ‘I actually feel stronger and healthier than ever. Giving birth was probably the most empowering thing I’ve ever done physically. I was like, now I can do anything. I can run a marathon… I can run three marathons!’

Sisterhood: ‘I think the most important thing is for women to see the sisterhood in motherhood. Sisterhood in being women, actually. It’s really the capacity to give birth that unites us, more than the experience itself. It’s about being there for each other.’

[From Red]

I’ve read some interesting accounts and attempts to explain why maternal death rates are on the rise in a country like the USA. I have my own theories, like inadequate sexual education, the glamorization of teenage motherhood and the no-epidural and home-birthing movements. But I don’t have any science to back up my theories, so I’ll just shut up. I believe every woman should be able to control her reproductive destiny and that includes deciding what birth plan is right for her. The problem, as Christy points out, is that so many girls and women don’t have those choices.

So here’s my question: do you want more Turlington stories? She gives interviews often enough but I usually ignore them. Her heart’s in the right place, but most of the time the interviews are boring or like this, sort of sad and depressing (but informative). Do you want more Christy?

Photos courtesy of Red.