'We're programmed to think that this is the most special time in your life and you're going to have this instant bond and this instant connection'
Jennifer, 30, suffered the condition following the birth of her first son Bobby in 2010.
‘There was a kind of baby blues that never went away,’ she told Daybreak’s Lorraine Kelly and Aled Jones.
It was Jennifer’s mum who spotted the signs, having experienced similar symptoms herself.
‘She saw the signs straight away, so my postnatal depression was treated pretty quickly,’ Jennifer said.
But the former Brookside actress added that it’s difficult for women suffering with depression to admit how they are feeling when faced with so many expectations of how motherhood should be.
‘If you only look at adverts on TV, we're programmed to think that this is the most special time in your life and you're going to have this instant bond and this instant connection,’ she said.
‘And for some mums it just doesn't happen, and then they feel that they're a failure.’
The star – who welcomed a second son, Harry, in July – admitted she was concerned she might suffer again.
‘I was really terrified because it just doesn't affect me and the baby, it affects the whole family.’
‘And also I had my little boy… Having a new brother or sister is a big enough change for him, so for his mum going through depression as well, that was just terrifying to think of,’ she confessed.
The TV star gave hope to new mothers going through the same thing she did, saying: ‘It's one of those things, it does happen and it's treatable and there's so many women who are living with it for years on end and not getting treated,
‘I just had my second little boy, and I didn't suffer from it this time.’