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For people living with postpartum depression (PPD), it can feel especially isolating to be surrounded by expectations of joy while struggling with deep sadness. Although PPD can be emotionally difficult, it’s also very common. In fact, StatPearls — a medical reference used by healthcare professionals — reports that about 1 in 7 women will experience PPD within a year of giving birth.
New parents of every race, background, and profession can experience PPD — even famous athletes, musicians, and celebrities. These four women have opened up about their experiences, helping shed light on a topic that’s too often treated as taboo.
It’s common to feel overwhelmed, exhausted, irritable, or tearful in the days after giving birth. This temporary period is often called the “baby blues.” But when depression is more severe and doesn’t go away, this is a sign of PPD (sometimes called peripartum depression). PPD can begin before a baby is born and appear up to a year afterward. It can interfere with your ability to care for your baby and go about your daily life.
Many moms with PPD symptoms, such as feeling distant from their baby or not good enough, are also afraid others will judge them. Even though PPD is common, doctors say up to 50 percent of cases go undiagnosed because people are afraid to speak up or get help.
When celebrities and others speak openly about PPD, it helps change how people see it — dispelling harmful myths and reminding parents that it’s OK to not be OK. These four women have bravely shared their PPD stories, helping others speak up and pushing workplaces and doctors to do more for people with PPD.
Supermodel, television host, and wife of musician John Legend, Chrissy Teigen opened up about her struggle with PPD in 2017. In a public Instagram post and an in-depth personal essay published in Glamour magazine, Tiegen shared that after the birth of her first child, Luna, in 2016, she felt like a different person after returning to work when Luna was 4 months old. She described throbbing pain, loss of appetite, feeling irritable toward colleagues, and crying almost every day.
“When I wasn’t at work, I never left the house. Most days were spent on the exact same spot on the couch, and rarely would I muster up the energy to make it upstairs for bed,” she wrote in Glamour.
She recalls blaming her unhappiness on other things. She thought she had possibly outgrown her TV hosting role at the time, or that having to live in an apartment due to construction in her home could be the cause, not considering that PPD could be to blame.
Tiegen was finally diagnosed by her doctor after months of suffering with no explanation for her pain, nausea, and depression. She began taking antidepressants and was soon feeling better.
On describing why she never suspected she might have PPD, Tiegen shared that she didn’t know it could appear anytime in the first year, hadn’t heard anyone in her life speak openly about having it, and didn’t know it could happen to someone like her.
“I have a great life. I have all the help I could need: a lot of support, a nanny. But postpartum does not discriminate. And that’s part of the reason it took me so long to speak up: I felt selfish and weird saying that I’m struggling,” she wrote.
In August 2018, Serena Williams, one of the most dominant tennis players of all time, was defeated in what news outlets described as “one of the most stunning losses of her career.” The 36-year-old new mom had given birth to her daughter Alexis less than a year before, a complicated delivery which involved potentially life-threatening blood clots and required multiple surgeries.
“She hardly looked like herself,” an ESPN reporter commented. And according to Williams, “I know I can play a zillion times better. I don’t have time to be shocked about a loss that clearly wasn’t at my best right now.”
A week later, the renowned athlete opened up on Instagram about her struggles with PPD.
“Last week was not easy for me. Not only was I accepting some tough personal stuff, but I just was in a funk. Mostly, I felt like I was not a good mom. I read several articles that said postpartum emotions can last up to three years if not dealt with. Talking things through with my mom, my sisters, and my friends, let me know that my feelings are totally normal,” she wrote.
Like many parents, Williams was struggling with pressure to be there for her baby while balancing the demands of work and other responsibilities. Through her words of encouragement, the tennis star wanted to make sure people struggling with PPD know they are not alone: “It’s totally normal to feel like I’m not doing enough for my baby. I’m here to say: If you are having a rough day or week — it’s OK — I am, too! There’s always tomorrow.”
English singer-songwriter Adele is known for her powerful, soulful ballads and has won more than a dozen Grammys. And amid her fame and success, she also faced a difficult battle with PPD.
In a cover story for Vanity Fair in 2016, Adele shared openly about her struggles after the birth of her son and said that her PPD is one reason she’s decided not to have any more children. “I had really bad postpartum depression after I had my son, and it frightened me. I didn’t talk to anyone about it,” she said.
Adele also shared that one of the reasons she didn’t reach out for help sooner was because she had the wrong impression of what PPD looked like. “My knowledge of postpartum was 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. But I was obsessed with my child. I felt very inadequate,” she said.
Since then, she’s learned that PPD can show up in a variety of ways. “It can come in many different forms,” she added.
Misunderstanding of what PPD looks like was also a factor for Teigen. “I had associated postpartum depression with people who didn’t like their babies or felt like they had to harm their children. I didn’t have anything remotely close to those feelings,” Tiegen wrote in her Glamour essay.
For Adele, the best way to heal came from taking time alone for herself, away from her baby, despite pressures not to do so.
“Eventually, I just said, I’m going to give myself an afternoon a week, just to do whatever I want without my baby. A friend of mine said, ‘Really? Don’t you feel bad?’ I said, I do, but not as bad as I’d feel if I didn’t do it,” she shared. “Some of my friends felt the same way I did, and everyone was too embarrassed to talk about it. They thought everyone would think they were a bad mom, and it’s not the case. It makes you a better mom if you give yourself a better time.”
Cardi B, hip-hop artist and the first solo female artist to win a Grammy for Best Rap Album of the Year, shared her PPD story in 2019.
Soon after the birth of her daughter, Kulture, Cardi B cancelled a tour with Bruno Mars. She spoke about being afraid of appearing in public with her baby and feeling out of place in her own body. “When I gave birth, the doctor told me about postpartum, and I was like, ‘Well, I’m doing good right now, I don’t think that’s going to happen.’ But out of nowhere, the world was heavy on my shoulders,” she said.
She had trouble breastfeeding and said her PPD made it too hard to keep going, which brought up difficult emotions and feelings of guilt. An article in Harper’s Bazaar described her challenges in detail. “Despite the indelible image of Cardi breastfeeding in the ‘Money’ video, wearing a black gown open at the bodice, she isn’t breastfeeding Kulture. She spent most of the time after the baby was born in a haze of postpartum depression,” the reporter wrote.
Some studies suggest that PPD could be more common in moms who want to breastfeed but aren’t able to.
Like many moms with PPD, Cardi B found herself crying all the time, obsessing over whether she was a good enough mother, fretting about failing her baby, and worrying about connecting with her.
She was also struggling with feelings of inadequacy because she wasn’t able to breastfeed. “People don’t really talk about what you go through after pregnancy,” she said. “When Kulture was born, I felt like I was a kid again — everything was making me cry, and I needed a lot of love. I be feeling like, Do babies know who’s they mom? I feel like babies love whoever is giving them the milk, and I want to give the milk the whole time. I want her to know me.”
Unapologetic, Cardi B has shared her story with the world and reinforced that after a baby, or any time, it is OK for moms to prioritize themselves and their own well-being. “I feel better now, but sometimes I just feel so vulnerable, like I’m not ready for the world yet. It’s weird,” she said.
These are just four of dozens of high-profile celebrity moms who’ve come forward with their PPD stories, including Brooke Shields, Alanis Morissette, Hayden Panettiere, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Bryce Dallas Howard, Drew Barrymore, and many more. Chances are, people in your family and community have experienced it, too.
When experiencing the difficult and sometimes debilitating symptoms of PPD, it’s important to remember that you can talk to others about what you’re going through, and healthcare providers are there to support you. Many treatments have been proven to work, and help is available. You don’t have to go through postpartum depression alone.
It’s important to reach out to your primary care doctor and a mental health professional for support. You should contact your doctor if your depression lasts longer than two weeks, is getting worse, or is making it difficult to care for yourself or your baby.
If you are in crisis, consider using one of these resources:
On MyDepressionTeam, the social network for people living with all types of depression, including postpartum depression, and their loved ones, members come together to ask questions, offer support and advice, and share their stories with others who understand life with PPD.
Did you know about the risk factors for PPD before your baby was born? Do you have any advice for others managing these risks? Share your experience, or start a conversation by posting on your Activities page.
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