23 Celebrity moms who took long career breaks to take care of their babies

Lily Allen claimed in an interview with Kelly-Anne Taylor and Miquita Oliver that having children “ruined” her popstar potential career.

“My children ruined my career. I love them and they complete me, but in terms of pop stardom, they totally ruined it. I get really annoyed when people say you can have it all because, quite frankly, you can’t. Some people choose their career over their children, and that’s their prerogative. But my parents were quite absent when I was a kid, and I feel like that really left some nasty scars that I’m not willing to, you know, repeat on mine,” Allen said about the two daughters se gad with her ex-husband Sam Cooper: Ethel Mary, born in 2011, and Marnie Rose, born in 2013.

Cameron’s daughter Raddix was born in December 2019 and ever since then, she’s taken a break from her Hollywood career. “I just feel so blessed that I get to be here now with my child and, you know, get to be the mother that I get to be,” she said in 2021 while on SiriusXM show Quarantined With Bruce. “It’s such a blessing, it’s completely privileged, and I’m just really, really grateful.”

Salma and husband François Pinault had their daughter Valentina in 2007, which made Salma pump the brakes on making movies for a bit. “I think if you are young and you have children, you still have so much to prove. When you have children later in life, you lose a bit of that urge for working,” Salma told Marie Claire in 2012. “At the time, I was thinking, I can do another movie that may or may not work, or I can be with my child, nourish her, and not miss a moment of this precious time.”

The twins were born in 2008 and it took Jen three years to put out a new album, which was 2011's Love?. Her first movie after giving birth was The Backup Plan, which came out in 2010, although it did start filming in 2009. But keep in mind that usually Jen has a million projects going at once, so this was a big slow down for her.

In a 2016 interview she explained, "It would definitely take something really special [for me to go back to work]. I don't like saying 'take me away,' but that's essentially what work does."

After giving birth to Cy and Bowie in 2014, Zoë went on to star in Nina in 2016. “We have to pay bills and at the end of the day, I think that's the best example we can set to our children,” she told Us Weekly about being a working mom. “We're very determined and we can't just leave everything behind and just focus on them. But it's painful."

Penelope Cruz's sister spoke openly about having her child without a partner and how in love she was with being a mother. "I think [becoming a mother] is the most important decision of a woman’s life,” she wrote in a blog post. She took about a four-year break from work after becoming a mom.

The Full House actress took a hiatus to raise her children. Her first child was born in 1998. She kept a low profile just doing one-episode appearances on shows up until 2014 when she joined Dancing With the Stars. Then, of course, came the reboot of Full House for Netflix in 2016.

She was once the queen of telenovelas, but walked away from the spotlight to focus on being a mother. The 1999 telenovela Camila was her last lead role in a series. She's has remained in the public eye and has a large following on Instagram.

In 2008, Halle Berry gave birth to her daughter Nahla and made sure to take a long career break after. It took her two years to star in another movie, which was Frankie & Alice. In 2013, she became mom to a son, Maceo Robert Martinez.

She was the first woman to ever win five Grammys in one night. She won them in 1999 for her solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which came out in 1998. She didn't come out with another album until 2002 when she released a live album of her MTV Unplugged special.

The singer, who is always hard at work on her craft, welcomed twins Sir and Rumi in 2017. Beyoncé did not hit the stage again until April 2018 at the Coachella Music Fest, after having some health complications during the pregnancy.

During her first pregnancy in 2017, Kylie took a break from the spotlight, even from social media. No one even knew she was pregnant until after the fact. “My pregnancy was one I chose not to do in front of the world,” Kylie shared when she was ready to let fans know she was a mom. “I knew for myself I needed to prepare for this role of a lifetime in the most positive, stress free, and healthy way I knew how.”

After starring in 1997's Deconstructing Harry, Demi and then-husband Bruce Willis relocated to Idaho to raise their three daughters. She returned to the screen in 2000 with Passion Mind and eventually the family moved back to California.

The Office star disappeared from the spotlight after having her son Weston in 2011. In 2014, she gave birth to daughter Harper Marie. She made her return in 2015 for the series You, Me and the Apocalypse.

That same year, she took a break from acting and left her hit show Zoey 101. That's the last television series she starred in. In 2013, she came back on the scene to launch her country music career. She had another child in 2014.

After an embarrassing lip-synching slip-up during a taping of SNL, Ashlee took a long hiatus and dedicated herself to raising son Bronx, whom she had with ex-husband Pete Wentz. She went on to have two more kids with her current husband, Evan Ross.

She talked to Celebrity Baby Scoop about wanting to go back to work after welcoming some Kase in 2011. “I had friends that went back to work quite early and they really regretted it, so I tried to learn from them. I pretty much gave myself a year-and-a-half off," she shared. "I think all mommies feel those pangs of guilt over doing anything except for staring at their babies. That was my first step into learning that balancing act.”

The singer put her music career on hold after the massive success of her 2011 album 21, and she took three years off to take care of her son, Angelo. She returned in 2015 for the release of her record-breaking album, 25.

For a while there, it seemed like Katherine was starring in every romantic comedy Hollywood had to offer. The actress slowed down a bit in her career to raise her three babies. She's since returned to a more active work life, which includes starring in the Netflix show Firefly Lane.

The singer moved to Switzerland to live with then-husband Robert Lange and her son, Eja, was born in 2001. She announced she would be retiring from performing in 2004 and went on a long hiatus from her career in music.

After starring in some major films, Elizabeth took some time off after welcoming son Damian in 2002. She has returned to acting since in shows like The Royals. Her son is all grown now and perhaps we'll be seeing more of her.

After having her second child in 2012, she took on fewer roles for several years. She's now back in full force and doing well with the series Servant on Apple TV+ and some projects in post-production.