Hilary Duff Details ‘Traumatic’ Pain of ‘Lightning Crotch’ Amid Pregnancy

Hilary Duff’s forthcoming bundle of joy is giving her a hard time as she prepares to give birth soon. The Younger actress visited The Ellen Degeneres Show featuring guest host former CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin where she revealed she’s experiencing something called “Lightning Crotch.” “I feel about how I look, which is really really big. I feel tired and honestly it’s been the best pregnancy so far,” she began. “That’s helpful because I don’t have time to focus on every ache and pain or [like] ‘the baby’s the size of this fruit this week.’”

Duff first revealed the interesting revelation on social media. “Let’s be real here, I think Matt [Koma, her husband] was the first one to be on blast with that and then I just happened to repost it because I can’t help but think his trolling me is so funny,” she told Baldwin.

“I didn’t have it with the other kids so I text my midwife the other day and I was like, ‘What’s up with the stabbing pains in my vagina? I’m not feeling this.’ It feels awful, like you’re being struck by lightning. She just wrote back and was like, ‘Oh, lightning crotch,’ like it was no big thing,” Duff explained. “I was like, ‘This is quite traumatic.’ It’ll just strike and all of a sudden you’re doubled over then it’s gone.”

Lightning crotch is actually pretty normal for many women in their third trimester. According to Parents.com, the shooting pains can last anywhere from 15 to 60 seconds and pains can be as small as a tingle or so painful it leaves women “doubled over in pain.” “The term is call lightning, which is like the baby getting ready for birth, lowering,” Duff said.

This will be Duff’s second child with her husband Matt Koma. The couple shares a daughter Banks Violet Bair, 2. Duff also has a son Luca, whom she shares with her ex-husband Mike Comrie. Duff and Koma recently held an intimate baby shower, which she shared on Instagram. “I got quality time with many of my LA friends who I haven’t been able to see in one setting in so long and deeply missed my tried and trues who live far away. I love all of these women,” she wrote of the event. “Thank you for showing up for me in life through the thick and the thin. The thick being holy s–– I’m having a third child…send help!”