Alicia Silverstone: Labor got less amazing

Alicia Silverstone has described labour as "almost sexy".

The actress and her husband Christopher Jarecki welcomed their son Bear Blu into the world in May 2011. On talk show Live with Kelly and Michael, the star opened up about giving birth and used an unusual term to describe the experience.

"The first 14 hours was almost sexy," she said during the interview. "The [hormone] oxytocin was doing all this magic and it felt amazing. And then it got less than amazing. It got really intense as labour is. And, yeah, it didn't end up as I planned but the whole juicy story is in the book."

The 37-year-old has penned The Kind Mama: A Simple Guide to Supercharged Fertility, a Radiant Pregnancy, a Sweeter Birth, and a Healthier, More Beautiful Beginning, a book for expectant or new moms. Alicia hopes it will help women to be their "healthiest and strongest selves".

Bear shares his unusual name with Kate Winslet's youngest tot and Alicia revealed why she felt drawn to the moniker.

"We thought that it would be really cute for a baby and very sexy for a man," she smiled.

In 2012, the Clueless star caused a backlash when she posted a video online of herself feeding her son pre-chewed food from her own mouth, in a process called premastication. She broached the subject during the interview.

"It was a moment and I was trusting my instincts," she revealed. "He couldn't chew. He had like one tooth. And he wanted the food in my mouth. He was determined. And so, I gave it to him.

"And it was so adorable and so lovely. It made me laugh really hard. He also ate food and he also ate my milk and it only happened when he wanted it to happen. So that's what happened. And people have been doing it since the beginning of time."

Alicia added that she feels "secure" in the choices she makes because she trusts her instincts.