Emily, Peter Andre’s wife, has been lauded for being frank about her struggles after the birth of her second child.
The 33-year-old is the mother of two children, Amelia, nine, and Theo, six, whom she shares with the Australian musician.
But the doctor has now come up about how she struggled with her mental health after giving birth to Theo in November 2016, posting a photo of herself cuddling him just six weeks later.
Explaining that the photo was taken on Millie’s third birthday, she wrote to her 489,000 Instagram followers: ‘It was the first time in a while I had worn makeup, or got dressed into normal clothes! Looking at the picture I can remember what an achievement that felt.’
She went on to explain how Theo had reflux and a tongue tie, as well as how she was healing from a caesarean and a second attack of mastitis (in which your breast gets swollen, hot, and painful).
‘The reason I’m bringing this up,’ she continued. ‘Is that although I have memories of what was behind this picture, for those looking in it probably wasn’t obvious.’
Emily added how she knows new mums ‘feel that pressure to appear that they are handling everything, or perhaps worry that others will think they aren’t a good parent.
‘It would have been great to hear about others who were experiencing the same thing, to understand that I wasn’t alone or doing anything wrong.’
She continued: ‘I didn’t experience postnatal depression or other mental health difficulties, but more than 10% of new mums can develop depression in the postnatal period.
‘This is only one of many different mental health conditions that can affect women at this vulnerable time.
‘Although there are many factors that can contribute to maternal mental health difficulties, I feel very strongly that normalising the difficult parts of becoming a parent is so important, so that people know they aren’t alone, and don’t feel worried or hesitant to seek help.
‘Since I became a parent, I have really noticed many more parents sharing their journeys, the amazing parts and the more difficult moments.
‘I hope that by talking about our own experiences and encouraging others to share, we can all support each other and raise awareness of maternal mental health,’ she finished.
Fans were quick to flood the comments section of the post with messages of gratitude, with one writing: ‘Thank you for sharing this. I suffered from postnatal depression and it wasn’t much understood here in Italy. Thanks for sharing your story, it’s so important to make this a point of discussion.’
A second added: ‘Such an amazing thing that you are doing to raise awareness Emily – a lot of people look at new mums and think the exhaustion is normal without realising how much else is going on behind the scenes!’
Whole another penned: ‘Well done girlie. Nobodies is ever how it seems and we should never judge. Kindness is a star quality.’
