“There's such a stigma”: Jennifer Ellison on postnatal depression
Actress opens up about the PND she had when her first son was born
Jennifer Ellison suffered from postnatal depression when her first son was born.
Mum to Bobby, two-and-a-half, and now little Harry, three months, Jennifer told Daybreak that she was “terrified” her PND would return - and she wishes the stigma that surrounds did not exist.
“There are so many women out there who are suffering with it," said Jennifer, 30, "and there's such a stigma attached to it. 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.
“For some mums. it just doesn't happen, and then they feel that they're a failure.”
When Bobby was born, Jennifer said she felt a kind of baby blues “that never went away. And I was very lucky that my mum had suffered with it and she saw the signs straightaway, so my postnatal depression was treated pretty quickly."
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“It's one of those things. It does happen and it's treatable, and there are so many women who are living with it for years on end and not getting treated.”
She worried that it would return when baby Harry was born this July but was delighted to find it hasn't.
"I was really terrified," she said, "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 to be going through depression as well, that was just terrifying to think of."
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