Celeb Moms Who Have Overcome Postpartum Depression

Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette battled postpartum depression after her first two children's birth in 2010 and 2016. It wasn’t until 2019 that the singer opened up during an intimate interview with CBS about the postpartum depression she experienced after the birth of her third child that same year. She described her first two bouts with PPD as similar experiences, but things changed when it hit after her third child. "This time around, it's less depression. It's more anxiety and a little more of compulsive obsessive thoughts," she described. In addition to sharing her battle with CBS, Morissette published a letter on her website in true form, using words as poetry to explain the things most would have difficulty putting into words.

Not one to shy away from telling the truth, Chrissy Teigen penned an essay for Glamour after her first child Luna's birth in 2017. The TV show host and cookbook writer has always been forthcoming on body image, politics, and family, but like most women come to realize, admitting out loud that you have postpartum depression is tough. Admitting it out loud to the world? Tougher. But Teigen rose above the pain and shared the intimate details of PPD and how it impacted her work and home life. When she found her way out of it, she knew she had to share her experience, “I’m speaking up now because I want people to know it can happen to anybody, and I don’t want people who have it to feel embarrassed or to feel alone. I also don’t want to pretend like I know everything about postpartum depression because it can be different for everybody. But one thing I do know is that—for me—just merely being open about it helps.”

We know her as one of the toughest vampire slayers out there, but being Buffy doesn’t make you invincible from pain, and that’s a lesson Sarah Michelle Gellar was ready to share with fans in 2017. The popular ‘90s actress made our teenage dreams come true when she married a fellow popular actor of that time, Freddie Prinze Jr. Gellar faced postpartum depression after the birth of their two children. She used an Instagram throwback post as an opportunity to share her story stating, “Having kids is wonderful, and life-changing, and rarely what you're prepared for. I love my children more than anything in the world. But like a lot of women, I too struggled with postpartum depression after my first baby was born. I got help and made it through, and every day since has been the best gift I could ever have asked for. To those of you going through this, know that you're not alone and that it really does get better.” She also urged other women to contact their state rep to help fight for healthcare coverage for PPD.

Another celeb who didn’t encounter the throws of postpartum depression until her second child's birth is Drew Barrymore. The actress spoke openly with the media about her battle with PPD, describing it as "short-lived, probably six months." In her discussion, Barrymore highlighted that she needed to find a balance between work and her children, noting that she would let work news or tasks interfere with the time she had dedicated to her kids, and that’s when she had to reel herself in and admit that something had to change.

“I didn’t have postpartum the first time, so I didn’t understand it because I was like, ‘I feel great!’ The second time, I was like, ‘Oh, whoa, I see what people talk about now. I understand,’” she said. “It’s a different type of overwhelming with the second. I really got under the cloud.”

It’s almost eerie to think that Hayden Panettiere was playing a part she would later experience in her life, but that’s exactly what happened when her character Juliette developed postpartum depression on the hit television series Nashville. In fact, Panettiere has credited Juliette’s PPD plotline as a means of being able to identify the signs of her own PPD after the birth of her first child. After discovering she had PPD, the actress took a break from Nashville and the spotlight to seek treatment. When she recovered, she began sharing her experience with the media to continue to break the stigma for women.

“It takes a while, and you feel off you don't feel like yourself,” Panettiere said. ”But, you know, women are so resilient, and that's the incredible thing about them. And I think I'm all the stronger for it. I think I'm a better mom for it because you never take that connection for granted.”

You wouldn’t imagine a feisty spirit like Cardi B would ever have battle something as complex as postpartum depression—but isn’t that the point? PPD doesn’t discount anyone, regardless of how happy-go-lucky you might be. After giving birth to her first daughter Kulture, Cardi B’s doctor informed her that she might encounter PPD, but Cardi was certain she wouldn’t because she was feeling good at the moment. The rapper would later describe her experience with PPD to Harper’s Bazaar, stating, “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.”

The always seemingly put together Gwyneth Paltrow is another celeb mom who thought she wouldn’t fall victim to postpartum depression, especially after experiencing what she described as a “euphoric” state after giving birth to her first child, Apple. The actress and podcast host didn’t experience that same state after the birth of her second child, Moses. She spoke out about her challenges with PPD on her goop podcast during an interview with her mother, Blythe Danner. In it, she explains how her husband at the time (Coldplay’s Chris Martin) helped her identify what was happening. "About four months into it, Chris came to me and said, 'Something's wrong. Something's wrong.' I kept saying, 'No, no, I'm fine.' But Chris identified it, and that sort of burst the bubble," Paltrow said. "There are different shades of it and depths of it, which is why I think it's so important for women to talk about it. It was a trying time. I felt like a failure."

Postpartum depression can change its colours each time it shows up, and that’s exactly how it came to be for actress Reese Witherspoon. She has three children, including two with her ex-husband Ryan Phillippe, and each birth brought with it varying levels of PPD. Witherspoon described this whirlwind experience on Jameela Jamil's I Weigh podcast. “After each child, I had a different experience,” she told Jameela. “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. And then I had one kid where I had no postpartum at all.” Like most celeb moms who speak out about their battles with PPD, Witherspoon emphasized the importance of educating women on the subject and showing support at every turn. “We don’t understand the kind of hormonal roller coaster that you go on when you stop nursing," Reese continued. "No one explained that to me. I was 23 years old when I had my first baby, and nobody explained to me that when you wean a baby, your hormones go into the toilet. I felt more depressed than I’d ever felt in my whole life. It was scary.”

Tennis player Serena Williams penned an essay in a 2018 cover story for Vogue, where she describes the difficulty she experienced after her first child's birth. She then took to Instagram to elaborate on the uphill battle she faced while navigating postpartum depression after her pregnancy. She emphasized doing the research to understand PPD better and leaning on friends and family to talk through the struggles women face while fighting their way through the haze. “I read several articles that said postpartum emotions could last up to three years if not dealt with. I like communication best. Talking things through with my mom, my sisters, my friends let me know that my feelings are totally normal.” said Williams. She enlightened fans and future moms about the pressure they face to be perfect, and how PPD can impact your confidence in giving your new baby everything. “It’s totally normal to feel like I’m not doing enough for my baby.”

Grammy award-winning singer Adele has always been known to speak her mind, and that trait showed no signs of stopping after the birth of her only child, Angelo. Like most mothers, Adele felt conflicted about having a child, describing in a 2016 interview with Vanity Fair that she wasn’t entirely ready to give up her child-free existence explaining, “I love my son more than anything, but on a daily basis, if I have a minute or two, I wish I could do whatever the f*ck I wanted, whenever I want. Every single day I feel like that.” That sentiment would ring true when the singer faced the challenges of PPD. “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 was obsessed with my child. I felt very inadequate; I felt like I’d made the worst decision of my life.” Adele’s way of coping was to carve out time for herself without baby Angelo. When asked if she felt guilty about taking this route, the singer said, “I do, but not as bad as I’d feel if I didn’t do it.”