John Legend's wife Chrissy Teigen has opened up about something that can affect mums everywhere - postpartum depression
When you think of Chrissy Teigen you might instantly think of her husband John Legend, or their adorable baby girl Luna or her witty tweets to her 4million followers but more recently the yummy mummy has opened up about suffering from postpartum depression.
The mum-of-one is definitely one of our favourite celebrity mums out there. She is extremely relatable; just earlier this year she posted a photo on social media of stretchmarks on her legs (god we love her).
She also took down a Twitter troll who criticised her for having IVF. After revealing her next baby will be "a little boy for sure," someone online questioned her but Chrissy shut her down straight away. She wrote: "Hi Linda, thanks for asking, you complete witch. I tried for about 9 years. Anything else, let me know!"
In the past the 31-year-old model has opened up about her IVF struggles and now in an emotional open letter she spoken about suffering from postpartum depression, which according to the NHS affects 1 in every 10 women within a year of giving birth.
Chrissy and John welcomed their adorable daughter into the world in April last year. After having a "wonderful, energetic pregnancy" with Luna, Chrissy blamed feeling sad, detached or stressed on her circumstances at the time. However it was after she returned to work on America's Lip Sync Battle – four months after having Luna – that she noticed she wasn't the same: "I was different than before. Getting out of bed to get to set on time was painful. My lower back throbbed; my shoulders—even my wrists—hurt.
"I didn’t have an appetite. I would go two days without a bite of food, and you know how big of a deal food is for me. One thing that really got me was just how short I was with people."
She continued: "I couldn’t figure out why I was so unhappy. I blamed it on being tired and possibly growing out of the role: 'Maybe I’m just not a goofy person anymore. Maybe I’m just supposed to be a mom," she wrote for Glamour magazine.
The American model then revealed after being tired of "sleeping on the couch. Of waking up throughout the night. Of throwing up. Of taking things out on the wrong people. Of not enjoying life. Of not seeing my friends. Of not having the energy to take my baby for a stroll," she visited her GP and was finally diagnosed with postpartum depression.
Chrissy admitted before she was diagnosed with postpartum depression she associated it "with people who didn't like their babies or felt like they had to harm their children." However, after having a child of her own she realised that's not the case – as she didn't feel anything like that toward Luna.
She added: "I also just didn’t think it could happen to me. I have a great life. I have all the help I could need: John, my mother (who lives with us), a nanny.
"But postpartum does not discriminate. I couldn’t control it. And that’s part of the reason it took me so long to speak up: I felt selfish, icky, and weird saying aloud that I’m struggling. Sometimes I still do."
Ending her essay Chrissy (who admitted she wrote the letter to bring awareness that postpartum depression can affect anyone) confessed: "I’ve never had more respect for mothers, especially mothers with postpartum depression."
Wow! Her letter was incredibly eye opening.
If you suffer from postpartum depression you can fine help at PANDAS Foundation.
Did you know about postpartum depression? Have you suffered from it? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter.
You might also like to read…
Do I have postnatal depression? Causes, symptoms and treatments
Antenatal depression: Everything you need to know about depression during pregnancy