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Hayley Hubbard
Lola Melani
“I’m not breastfeeding this time around because, now looking back, breastfeeding really amplified symptoms of postpartum depression for me,” Hayley, who works with theEvery Mother Countscharity, which aims to improve maternal health, told PEOPLE.
She added, “It was never something that came easy to me or something that I honestly enjoyed, no matter how many specialists we talked to or how well I was producing milk.”
After breastfeeding daughter Olivia, Hayley said in 2019 that shesupplemented son Luca’s feedingswith formula because she wasn’t producing enough milk.
“Knowing that I would be coming home to two busy toddlers that needed my attention, and ahusband that was injured, breastfeeding and pumping around-the-clock seemed even more daunting,” Hayley said of her decision. “I encourage anyone else feeling this way to do the same andto not feel any shameabout it. It hasbeen significantly life-changingin the best way for my mental health and postpartum.”
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Nikki Bella
Artem Chigvintsev and Nikki Bella with son Matteo.Nikki Bella/ Instagram
During an episode ofThe Bellas Podcast, Nikki sat down with her twin sisterBrie Bellaand shared that she has beenfeeling “super depressed"following the birth of her sonMatteowith fiancé Artem Chigvintsev.
“I love being the best, I want to be number one. … I’ve realized I’ve taken that mentality as a mom,” Nikki told her sister, who welcomed her sonBuddyless than 24 hours before Nikki gave birthto Matteo in August 2020. She also added, “I’ve always prided myself that I can fight a lot of things mentally. I’m very strong in that way.”
However, she continued, “Postpartumhas knocked me on my ass. This is something that is way different.”
The new mom revealed thatshe “refused to ask for help” in caring for Matteoand ended up having a “massive breakdown” while shootingTotal Bellas.
Noting that it wasn’t Chigvintsev’s fault, Nikki continued, “It just started to build up. Being alone with Matteo and just feeling lonely and not loved and invisible.”
“I had a little bit of postpartum depression,” Brie said. “When I looked at you, it’s more than just being sleep-deprived. She’s lonely. She’s doing a lot of this on her own. … Being parents was never supposed to be this lonely.”
03of 18Maren MorrisMaren Morris and son Hayes.Maren Morris/InstagramThe country megastar recently discussed herbattle with postpartum depressionfollowing sonHayes' arrival in March 2020.“I’m kind of coming through the tunnel now. I feel back to normal,” she toldCBS This Morningcohost Anthony Mason in September. “Fortunately, I was able to do phone therapy during the pandemic. … And [I have] people that love me around me that are like, ‘Hey, if you’re drowning right now, there’s help.’ ““You’retrying to become a new mother and good parentand do everything right,” Morris added of the drowning feeling, “and you just feel like you suck at every level.““And then the one thing I’ve always felt like I have a handle on is my music,” she continued. “And to not be able to tour and have to furlough my band and crew, it was just a lot.”
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Maren Morris
Maren Morris and son Hayes.Maren Morris/Instagram
The country megastar recently discussed herbattle with postpartum depressionfollowing sonHayes' arrival in March 2020.
“I’m kind of coming through the tunnel now. I feel back to normal,” she toldCBS This Morningcohost Anthony Mason in September. “Fortunately, I was able to do phone therapy during the pandemic. … And [I have] people that love me around me that are like, ‘Hey, if you’re drowning right now, there’s help.’ "
“You’retrying to become a new mother and good parentand do everything right,” Morris added of the drowning feeling, “and you just feel like you suck at every level.”
“And then the one thing I’ve always felt like I have a handle on is my music,” she continued. “And to not be able to tour and have to furlough my band and crew, it was just a lot.”
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Reese Witherspoon
George Pimentel/Getty
The mother of three spoke about herhistory of depression and anxietyonJameela Jamil’sI Weighpodcast, sharing that she started therapy when she was 16.
“I definitely had anxiety, my anxiety manifests as depression so I would get really depressed. My brain is like a hamster on a wheel and it won’t come off,” Witherspoon said. “I’ve been managing it my entire life.”
Her biggest mental health struggle came when she started having children.
“I’ve had three kids. After each child I had a different experience. One kid I had kind of mild postpartum, and one kid I had severe postpartum where I had to take pretty heavy medication because I just wasn’t thinking straight at all,” the actress said. “And then I had one kid where I had no postpartum at all.”
The actress shares daughterAvaand sonDeaconwith exRyan Phillippeand sonTennesseewith husband Jim Toth.
As she opened up about her experience with reaching out for help, Witherspoon said she was “completely out of control” after the birth of her first child.
“I didn’t have the right kind of guidance or help, I just white-knuckled back,” she said, adding that she also wasn’t able to be with her mother, who worked as a pediatric nurse for 35 years and had always been open about mental health - and at the time “there wasn’t the type of communication we have now.”
05of 18Chrissy TeigenChrissy Teigen/InstagramTeigen shared her experiencedealing with postpartum depressionwithGlamour UKin March 2020. Teigen revealed that she didn’t realize she had it until her daughter Luna was 3 months old.“It was a sad existence,” she told the outlet of that period in her life. “There were no highs. It was a flatline of life for a few months.“Teigen said she “put off getting it checked” because she wasn’t having negative feelings toward her daughter, but herself.“You hear these horrific stories of people not seeing their child as theirs, or wanting to hurt them, and I never felt that way. That’s why I put off getting it checked as I hated myself, not my child,” she said. “I don’t know why I didn’t realize, as it was so obvious to everyone else!““I didn’t know it could sneak up so late or that it could happen to someone like me, where I have all the resources,” she continued. “I had nannies and my mom living with us. You say you have it and people think, ‘Is she going to jump off a roof with her kid?’ They don’t know there are so many levels of it.”
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Chrissy Teigen
Chrissy Teigen/Instagram
Teigen shared her experiencedealing with postpartum depressionwithGlamour UKin March 2020. Teigen revealed that she didn’t realize she had it until her daughter Luna was 3 months old.
“It was a sad existence,” she told the outlet of that period in her life. “There were no highs. It was a flatline of life for a few months.”
Teigen said she “put off getting it checked” because she wasn’t having negative feelings toward her daughter, but herself.
“You hear these horrific stories of people not seeing their child as theirs, or wanting to hurt them, and I never felt that way. That’s why I put off getting it checked as I hated myself, not my child,” she said. “I don’t know why I didn’t realize, as it was so obvious to everyone else!”
“I didn’t know it could sneak up so late or that it could happen to someone like me, where I have all the resources,” she continued. “I had nannies and my mom living with us. You say you have it and people think, ‘Is she going to jump off a roof with her kid?’ They don’t know there are so many levels of it.”
06of 18
Porsha Williams
Will Sterling
After Williams gave birth to her first child, daughter Pilar “PJ” Jhena, withDennis McKinleyon March 22, 2019, the new mom was overjoyed but was also honest abouthow hard it was to transition into motherhood. The fact that theReal Housewives of Atlantastar was having difficulty producing enough breastmilk to breastfeed her daughter almost sent her “into postpartum depression.”
“I just had to come to terms and be okay with itthat I wasn’t able to breastfeed. I don’t even know if my body was ready,” Williams told PEOPLE in April 2019.
“We had a rough pregnancy, all the way from start to finish,” McKinley said during an episode ofRHOA. “Sex during pregnancy, it’s nothing what a man wants to do … and after PJ got here, postpartum was very real. We cried together like every night. That’s not a good enough why, but that’s the why.”
Since the filming of the show, Williams and McKinley have reconciled and even gotre-engaged.
“We’re working on our family. It takes time,” Williams said. “I love him and he loves me and we’re doing what’s best for our family. That’s really all you can do.”
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Gretchen Rossi
TheReal Housewives of Orange Countyalum and new mom spoke candidly about how the “difficult period” she went through after giving birth to her daughter led her to realize she was experiencing “serious postpartum.”
“I make a joke that I’m gonna write a book calledIt’s All a Lie,” Rossi said during an episode ofThe Doctors, on which she and fiancéSlade Smileyappeared to talk about how life has changed since they welcomed daughterSkylar Grayon July 10, 2019.
“I really wasn’t connecting with [Skylar] at the very beginning,” she said. “Then I came to realize [when] I went to my pediatrician’s appointment and I was crying and broke down in that appointment, and my pediatrician said, ‘You know, Gretchen, I think maybe you need to think about the fact that you might have some serious postpartum.'”
“I was like, ‘No, not me. I don’t have that. I’m happy! I’m such a positive person all the time,'” she continued.
08of 18Christina PerriNathan Congleton/NBC/GettyThe artist — who has been open about managing depression and anxiety — revealed to PEOPLE she dealtwith postpartum depression in late 2018.“That got me the hardest when I stopped breastfeeding [daughter Carmella] around Christmas. I was so sad and so dark,” Perri said. “We’re almost made to pretend it’s not happening, like, ‘It’s fine. I’ve got this.’ “After sharing her struggle on social media, Perri said more than 15,000 mothers reached out over Instagram, sending messages of support.“What really helped was talking about it,” she said. “It was just overwhelming. It made me feel so much better. All the women said ‘me too, me too, me too’ and really got me through it. I’ve got my mommy tribe that got bigger because of that.”
08of 18
Christina Perri
Nathan Congleton/NBC/Getty
The artist — who has been open about managing depression and anxiety — revealed to PEOPLE she dealtwith postpartum depression in late 2018.
“That got me the hardest when I stopped breastfeeding [daughter Carmella] around Christmas. I was so sad and so dark,” Perri said. “We’re almost made to pretend it’s not happening, like, ‘It’s fine. I’ve got this.’ "
After sharing her struggle on social media, Perri said more than 15,000 mothers reached out over Instagram, sending messages of support.
“What really helped was talking about it,” she said. “It was just overwhelming. It made me feel so much better. All the women said ‘me too, me too, me too’ and really got me through it. I’ve got my mommy tribe that got bigger because of that.”
09of 18Serena WilliamsMichael Simon, StarTraksPhoto.comIn her July 2018 cover story forHarper’s Bazaar UK, the 23-time Grand Slam champ opened up about some of the more difficult aspects of life since welcoming daughterAlexis Olympia.“Honestly, sometimes I still think I have to deal with it,” she shared of PPD. (After Olympia’s birthvia emergency cesarean section, the athlete also had a near-death experience involving pulmonary embolism.)“I think people need to talk about it more because it’s almost like the fourth trimester, it’s part of the pregnancy,” she explained. “I remember one day, I couldn’t find Olympia’s bottle and I got so upset I started crying … because Iwanted to be perfect for her.”
09of 18
Serena Williams
Michael Simon, StarTraksPhoto.com
In her July 2018 cover story forHarper’s Bazaar UK, the 23-time Grand Slam champ opened up about some of the more difficult aspects of life since welcoming daughterAlexis Olympia.
“Honestly, sometimes I still think I have to deal with it,” she shared of PPD. (After Olympia’s birthvia emergency cesarean section, the athlete also had a near-death experience involving pulmonary embolism.)
“I think people need to talk about it more because it’s almost like the fourth trimester, it’s part of the pregnancy,” she explained. “I remember one day, I couldn’t find Olympia’s bottle and I got so upset I started crying … because Iwanted to be perfect for her.”
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Alyssa Milano
Alyssa Milano.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
“ThisMental Health Awareness Month, I am joining the people nationwide who are standing up, sharing their stories and demanding that lawmakers defend our access to health care,” writes the actress.
She continues to detail her “beautiful” first pregnancy and strict birth plan, which didn’t go as planned, triggering intense anxiety and postpartum depression after complications resulted in her getting a C-section after hours of labor.
“That first night, after we returned from the hospital, I suffered my firstanxiety attack. I felt like I had already disappointed my child.” But after seeking and finding help, the actress has recognized how crucial it is to be seen and heard when suffering from PPD, and is working to raise awareness.
She ends on an invitation: “And if you see me on the street, please come tell me that I am not alone.”
11of 18Kayla Rae ReidKayla Rae Reid /YoutubeAlmost a year after welcoming son, Caiden Zane, with husband, Ryan Lochte, Kayla Rae Reid, opened up about her battle with postpartum depression in a candid YouTube video titledMy Journey with PPD: Postpartum Depression. “I was dead inside,” Reid recalled, adding that there were days she wouldn’t want to get out of bed. “It makes me so sad because you don’t want to feel like that because you just gave birth to something. You know you are their everything, and everything you do is for them. I don’t know why I felt like that, but I did.“Nearly one year later since having her little one, Reid still doesn’t necessarily think she’s “overcome” postpartum depression. “I still have good days and bad days,” she admitted. “I have way more good days, and I actually see life as worth living, and I did not all,” Reid continued. “And that just blows my mind to say that, but I really didn’t.”
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Kayla Rae Reid
Kayla Rae Reid /Youtube
Almost a year after welcoming son, Caiden Zane, with husband, Ryan Lochte, Kayla Rae Reid, opened up about her battle with postpartum depression in a candid YouTube video titledMy Journey with PPD: Postpartum Depression. “I was dead inside,” Reid recalled, adding that there were days she wouldn’t want to get out of bed. “It makes me so sad because you don’t want to feel like that because you just gave birth to something. You know you are their everything, and everything you do is for them. I don’t know why I felt like that, but I did.”
Nearly one year later since having her little one, Reid still doesn’t necessarily think she’s “overcome” postpartum depression. “I still have good days and bad days,” she admitted. “I have way more good days, and I actually see life as worth living, and I did not all,” Reid continued. “And that just blows my mind to say that, but I really didn’t.”
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Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette.
In a September 2017 interview with PEOPLE, the singer opened up about twice battling PPD. “I’m used to being the rock of Gibraltar, I’m used to providing and protecting, and for postpartum times, I was devestated and it had me questioning my identity … it had me questioning everything.”
After being diagnosed about a year-and-a-half after her first pregnancy, she was prepared to face PPD again following the July 2016 birth of daughter Onyx. “I was at the ready, whether I’m adjusting this hormonally or through vitamins or through omegas or allopathic medicine or whatever, I was ready to do anything.”
13of 18Lena HeadeyWhile filming the super-intense season 1 ofGame of Thrones, Headeywas diagnosed with PPD, but had to continue balancing work and motherhood to son Wylie. “I saw a doctor for the medical check, and I just burst into tears. She said I was postnatally depressed and I went, ‘Am I? Why is that?’ " Headey said in a 2017 interview withThe Edit.She continued, “I saw a great guy and he sorted me out, but I did the first year [onGoT] in that space,figuring out motherhoodand going through a weird time personally. It was tricky.”
13of 18
Lena Headey
While filming the super-intense season 1 ofGame of Thrones, Headeywas diagnosed with PPD, but had to continue balancing work and motherhood to son Wylie. “I saw a doctor for the medical check, and I just burst into tears. She said I was postnatally depressed and I went, ‘Am I? Why is that?’ " Headey said in a 2017 interview withThe Edit.She continued, “I saw a great guy and he sorted me out, but I did the first year [onGoT] in that space,figuring out motherhoodand going through a weird time personally. It was tricky.”
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Sarah Michelle Gellar
Tasia Wells/Getty Images
15of 18AdeleSteve Granitz/WireImage"I had really bad postpartum depression after I had my son, and it frightened me,” theBritish superstartoldVanity Fairin 2016, three years after welcoming son Angelo with ex-husband Simon Konecki. “My knowledge of postpartum — or post-natal, as we call it in England — is that you don’t want to be with your child; you’re worried you might hurt your child; you’re worried you weren’t doing a good job,” she said. “But I wasobsessedwith my child. Ifelt very inadequate; I felt like I’d made the worst decision of my life.”
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Adele
Steve Granitz/WireImage
“I had really bad postpartum depression after I had my son, and it frightened me,” theBritish superstartoldVanity Fairin 2016, three years after welcoming son Angelo with ex-husband Simon Konecki. “My knowledge of postpartum — or post-natal, as we call it in England — is that you don’t want to be with your child; you’re worried you might hurt your child; you’re worried you weren’t doing a good job,” she said. “But I wasobsessedwith my child. Ifelt very inadequate; I felt like I’d made the worst decision of my life.”
16of 18Hayden PanettiereTheNashvillestar struggled with postpartum depression after the 2014 birth of her daughter Kaya with her ex-fiancé, professional boxer Wladimir Klitschko. “[She] is voluntarily seeking professional help at a treatment center as she is currently battling postpartum depression,” her reptold PEOPLE. OnLive! with Kelly and Michaelin September 2016, Panettiere opened up about the struggle, saying, “There’s a lot of misunderstanding — there’s a lot of people out there that think that it’s not real, that it’s not true, that it’s something that’s made up in their minds, that ‘Oh, it’s hormones.’ They brush it off. It’s something that’s completely uncontrollable. It’s really painful and it’s really scary, and women need a lot of support.”
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Hayden Panettiere
TheNashvillestar struggled with postpartum depression after the 2014 birth of her daughter Kaya with her ex-fiancé, professional boxer Wladimir Klitschko. “[She] is voluntarily seeking professional help at a treatment center as she is currently battling postpartum depression,” her reptold PEOPLE. OnLive! with Kelly and Michaelin September 2016, Panettiere opened up about the struggle, saying, “There’s a lot of misunderstanding — there’s a lot of people out there that think that it’s not real, that it’s not true, that it’s something that’s made up in their minds, that ‘Oh, it’s hormones.’ They brush it off. It’s something that’s completely uncontrollable. It’s really painful and it’s really scary, and women need a lot of support.”
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Gwyneth Paltrow
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Brooke Shields
Andrew H. Walker/Getty
source: people.com
