Keke Palmer isn't interested in the internet's "mom-shaming."
The actress, singer and television host is speaking up about the pressures parents face online, where everything from car seats to kids' diets can bring unwanted criticism, without accounting for the lack of resources or varying challenges some families may face.
As flu and cold season approaches, she spoke with USA TODAY about her partnership with Beyfortus (nirsevimab), a preventive non-vaccine antibody shot for respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and how she takes preventative measures to protect the health of her 3-year-old son, Leo.
Respiratory syncytial virus is a common and easily spread virus that peaks during colder months. While most cases are mild, severity is unpredictable.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2% to 3% of infants under 6 months are hospitalized with RSV every year.
Palmer also opened up about motherhood, modeling healthy habits for her son and why she believes parents should have these open conversations without judging one another's choices.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
QUESTION: You've become more health conscious since becoming a mother. What are some of the ways that has bled into your everyday life, and how does it affect the decisions that you make on behalf of your son and for your family?
Answer: The healthy decisions are across the board, from the food that I think about eating, that my son watches me eat, and that I'm giving to him. He has a different diet than me. I'm a pescatarian, and that's by choice, but I pretty much have him eat everything. It's also the way that I live my life. He knows that sometimes mommy's at work, but sometimes she's going and getting a massage. My son and I love going bike riding together. All the ways that health shows up, I'm involved. It's made me much better myself because the way that I love my son is the way that I realized that I should be loving myself.
What you're talking about is mirroring those healthy behaviors, like you want your son to see you both working hard at your career and taking time for yourself. Being a mother, but also a person with their own physical and mental health to take care of. Was that something that you always felt on top of, or were there some ups and downs to get to that realization?
I don't know that it's something that you know immediately. Maybe some moms do, but I think I was so excited about the whole like, I created a little person thing, and watching them grow up, I don't really think I thought about all the ways that I would see my life reflected back to me through helping this child become their own person, and the realities of them being their own person, and that my real job is to, like, make sure I'm holding them, protecting them and supporting them. Being informed and having the resources is a big way that I want to show up, and that I try to show up for Leo.
Your son received (Beyfortus) for protection against RSV. What did that conversation look like with your pediatrician? Was it a hard topic to approach, or did it feel more natural?
I wouldn’t say it was a hard topic to approach. I didn't know a lot about respiratory syncytial virus at all, other than having seen it on the news, but as you're becoming a new mom, you're hearing it causes serious lung infection. It starts off as a cold ... how do I actually help to protect my baby against that? That's when I found out about Beyfortus, which is a preventative antibody. I just asked the questions. But I will say I'm not afraid of that kind of thing. I want to know what's available for me and what's best for my baby. And so ultimately, I felt that that was the best way to protect Leo.
Are there other ways you take preventative measures to protect Leo's health, and does that mirror back on your own health as well?
When you were asking, 'Was it difficult?' it's not, because I believe in preventative antibodies and the ways that I can protect my my child, and I have a good relationship with my doctors, which I think is an important thing to mention, especially when you're thinking about Black and Brown communities that don't always have those good relationships. That's why I always say on top of that to ask questions to your community, think hard about it, go places like beyfortus.com to get more information if you don't feel that confident about your relationship with your doctors. Or, get multiple opinions from other doctors or people that you know so that you can make the best informed decision.
How could you – or medical professionals – who want to talk about these preventative messages reach communities that historically have been either neglected or mistreated by the medical field?
A big part of why I wanted to partner with Sanofi was because I am a Black woman. These Black and Hispanic communities are having lower rates of protection. That's worrisome, right? That shouldn't be the case, especially when it comes to something like RSV, that is one of the leading causes of hospitalization in babies under 1. Again, it's not about fear mongering, but the truth of the matter is, you want people to know everything they can and to have the best information. So be loud about what's helped you. Be informative about what you think could be helpful, but then also be sensitive to the fact that everybody has a different way of feeling what's best for protecting their child. I don't believe in fear mongering. You're doing what you think is best for your child. I'm sharing something that I think could be helpful. You take and do with it what you will.
Does spending a lot of time online and seeing things like mominfluencers ever affect you as a parent?
I try not to overread into certain things. However, I can only imagine how it can feel for a mom, depending on what money she makes, or if she's doing it alone, or what area she's in. There's a lot of elitism around being a parent that I don't think people think about, where they're criticizing your car seat, they're criticizing the food you give your kids. And for me, being a Black person coming from an impoverished area, I know what it's like for people to clown you or disrespect your parents for the lunch you have when you live in a food desert and there's no fresh groceries to even get. That's the thing that irritates me around things online with moms. People don't realize that there's a luxury in being able to make the best choices for your kid, and then you're using that quote-unquote “best choice” as a reason to highlight that that parent is not doing good enough.
We should be communicating with one another and having bigger discussions that are less based around us trying to prove each other wrong, but to get the best information out of the conversation. We've lost the art of that because there's so much nuance that's lost on the internet. Whether it's a topic like this or something in pop culture on my podcast, I'm always trying to fill in that gray space. Not because I have a problem with discernment or having an opinion, but because sometimes exploration is actually more of the point.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Keke Palmer on 'mom shaming' and how she protects her son's health
