Turia Pitt was two days overdue when she ate eggplant parmigiana. It induced her labour.

“I find it interesting that people think I’m interesting because I was burnt; but I’ve always been interesting!” Turia Pitt joked at an event in Sydney yesterday.

She was trying to get a laugh, but she was also right.

That Turia is an interesting, and entertaining (yes, she’s hilarious), woman, regardless of the fact that she survived a 2011 bushfire which left her with burns to 70 per cent of her body, is testified in one way by her refreshing and unique perspective to being the mum of Hakavai, whom she had with fiancée Michael Hoskin.

(Oh, and that she was a model, mining engineer, and ultramarathon competitor even prior to almost dying.)

During her keynote speech at the launch of Life-Space Probiotics’ Pregnancy and Breastfeeding range, Turia shared some of Hakavai’s birth story, which began with a very funny anecdote about how she was two days overdue.

“I thought, right, you’ve had a good time in there,” she recalled saying to her womb, and decided to do something to encourage her baby along.

She swam. Walked. Got her pelvis aligned.

And then she made an eggplant parmigiana.

“I’d heard it could induce labour,” Turia told the audience.

Not long after eating some of the meal, Turia felt the effects in an unexpected way.

“I let out a massive fart in front of Michael and was laughing hysterically.

“And then my waters broke.”

After an epic 13-hour labour, on December 7, 2017, Turia and Michael welcomed Hakavai Hoskin.

Hakavai means ‘Dance of the Water’ in Tahitian, in honour of her Tahitian heritage on her mum Celestine’s side.

If you’re thinking of trying Turia’s labour hack, this is what she said about it on her blog last year:

“I used a recipe touted all over the internet as the best labour inducing food out there – google ‘Scalini’s eggplant parmigiana’ for the recipe.”

After her accident, Turia endured 200 operations, learned to walk again, has written three books and completed two Ironman challenges – all whilst sharing her story to motivate and inspire others.

 

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A post shared by Turia (@turiapitt) on Jul 18, 2019 at 8:55pm PDT

But she’s the first to admit that motherhood has been one of her greatest challenges – and it’s something she’s refreshingly honest about, whilst also making fun of herself and the ridiculous standards society can place on new mums.

On Instagram, Turia has shared a great photo and witty caption on everything from her due date, to storing breast milk, to her and Michael’s first attempt at a parental date night, proving that there’s nothing this unstoppable woman could face to lose her sense of humour.

 

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We are meticulous about nutrition in this family. Impeccable diets.

A post shared by Turia (@turiapitt) on Jul 14, 2019 at 12:47am PDT

This year, Turia released a book, Good Selfie. Explaining the idea behind it, Turia told Mamamia:

“As a parent you want your kids to be happy.

“But I know it’s not realistic that Hakavai is going to be happy all of the time, because of course he’s not going to always get picked for the sports team or maybe he’ll have his heart broken by a girl – all of these are very normal challenges that we face.

“I really want to encourage him to grow self-belief and get that sense that if he puts his mind to something, he can make anything happen, and that was my hope behind the book.”

 

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A post shared by Turia (@turiapitt) on Jun 25, 2019 at 5:26pm PDT

But it’s not just her son whom Turia wants to motivate; she wants everyone to know that they can achieve whatever they want.

"The more we put into life, the more we get out of it. To reinvent yourself – that’s where the magic is,” she said in her talk yesterday.

"You have to keep showing up – consistency is key.

"The journey to success won't always look good, and won't always feel good."

But Turia promises it’s worth the effort.

And for her, motherhood is a perfect example of that. As she said in a post of a photo with her and Hakavai earlier this year;

“You know that feeling of falling in love? It’s kind of like you’re high (thank you dopamine and oxytocin). Having a baby is like having this feeling on tap. It’s like the honeymoon phase that never ends.”

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