London:
Gwyneth Paltrow says husband Chris Martin helped her realise she had postnatal depression.
The Oscar-winning actress felt depressed following the birth of the couple's second child, Moses, in April 2006 as she couldn't connect with the baby and it was only when the Coldplay frontman suggested what may be wrong with her that she knew she needed help.
Speaking on TV show The Conversation With Amanda de Cadenet, Gwyneth - who also has a seven-year-old daughter, Apple, with Chris - said: "I couldn't connect with my son the way that I had with my daughter and I couldn't understand why. I couldn't connect to anyone. I felt like a zombie. I felt very detached. I just didn't know what was wrong with me. I couldn't figure it out. It never occurred to me. My husband actually said, 'Something's wrong. I think you have postnatal depression.' I was mortified. 'No I don't!' And then I started researching what it was and the symptoms and I was like, 'Oh, yes I do.' "
Gwyneth initially felt like a failure as a mother but now realises it is quite common and women should be helped and not judged.
She insisted: "We think that it makes us bad mothers or we didn't do it right, but it's like, we're all in this together. I never understand why mothers judge other mothers, like, 'What do you mean you didn't breastfeed? What do you mean you didn't do this?' It's like, 'Can't we all just be on each other's side?' It's so hard anyway. Can't we all help each other get through it? There's a shame attached to it because if you say, 'I had a baby and I couldn't connect to the baby,' it's like, 'What is wrong with you?' "
The Oscar-winning actress felt depressed following the birth of the couple's second child, Moses, in April 2006 as she couldn't connect with the baby and it was only when the Coldplay frontman suggested what may be wrong with her that she knew she needed help.
Speaking on TV show The Conversation With Amanda de Cadenet, Gwyneth - who also has a seven-year-old daughter, Apple, with Chris - said: "I couldn't connect with my son the way that I had with my daughter and I couldn't understand why. I couldn't connect to anyone. I felt like a zombie. I felt very detached. I just didn't know what was wrong with me. I couldn't figure it out. It never occurred to me. My husband actually said, 'Something's wrong. I think you have postnatal depression.' I was mortified. 'No I don't!' And then I started researching what it was and the symptoms and I was like, 'Oh, yes I do.' "
Gwyneth initially felt like a failure as a mother but now realises it is quite common and women should be helped and not judged.
She insisted: "We think that it makes us bad mothers or we didn't do it right, but it's like, we're all in this together. I never understand why mothers judge other mothers, like, 'What do you mean you didn't breastfeed? What do you mean you didn't do this?' It's like, 'Can't we all just be on each other's side?' It's so hard anyway. Can't we all help each other get through it? There's a shame attached to it because if you say, 'I had a baby and I couldn't connect to the baby,' it's like, 'What is wrong with you?' "
