Chrissy Teigen, Sarah Michelle Gellar, & More Celeb Moms Who’ve Struggled With Postpartum Depression

Being a mom is not easy, and yet these incredible women seemingly do it all with total confidence. But even they have admitted that they struggle, and raising their voices and sharing messages such a vital for millions of other moms to feel reassured. Over the course of the last few years, famous moms are opening up about their struggles with mental health and how they dealt with postpartum depression.

Roughly 1 in 8 women can struggle with postpartum depression after giving birth, according to newly updated information provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As such, it’s so important to erase stigmas, and empower women to know that they have the support, access and resources to help them through. Check out these celeb moms who used their platform to talk about their experiences with postpartum depression.

Chrissy Teigen

Chrissy Teigen is not one to be shy, and that’s not just due to her whip fast wit. The model and Cravings author has been quite candid about her struggle with postpartum depression after giving birth to her first child, daughter Luna, in 2016. “I had everything I needed to be happy. And yet, for much of the last year, I felt unhappy. What basically everyone around me—but me—knew up until December was this: I have postpartum depression,” the star revealed in a March 2017 Glamour essay.

Chrissy discussed further how simple tasks — like getting up in the morning — gave her physical pain, and how she had a burden of sadness and disinterest weighing her down. Over time, though, Chrissy came to terms with her diagnosis. “I love John and Luna more than I can imagine loving anything, and John [Legend] and I still hope to give Luna a few siblings. Postpartum hasn’t changed that.” Chrissy and John have since welcomed son Miles and have a third baby on the way!

Sarah Michelle Gellar

The same year that Chrissy revealed her struggle with PPD, Sarah Michelle Gellar penned a moving message about her own experience with her mental health post-baby. “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,” she wrote in an Instagram post from May 2017. “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 told her millions of fans.

Cardi B

Cardi B is one of the most resilient figures in the music business. As a Grammy-winning rapper, she has overcome so much to attain her success, but her most intense battle came when she struggled with her mental health after having her daughter, Kulture. “It was too hard,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in a February 2019 profile.

“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.” Now, Cardi is thriving and has become a huge voice for her generation, reminding millennials and Gen Z to go vote this November.

Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon is constantly taking on new acting and producing projects while being a mother of three. When Reese had two of her children, she experience PPD, which she discussed on an episode of the I Weigh podcast. “I’ve had three kids. After each child I had a different experience,” she shared.

“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.” Now, Reese is quickly becoming one of the most powerful women in Hollywood, using her platform for so much good.

Brooke Shields

Actress Brooke Shields was absolutely thrown by how much she struggled with PPD after giving birth to her daughter, Rowan, in 2003. To put her voice at the forefront of the conversation, Brooke even wrote a book chronicling her experience — Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression, released in 2006. In a separate interview with Oprah Winfrey, Brooke got even more real about the immediate affects she felt.

“I had no desire to even pretend to care about her,” she confessed. “And it absolutely terrified me…This gripped my heart to such an extent that I didn’t even have the desire to try to overcome it. I mean, I was flattened by it.” Brooke has since continued to use her platform to de-stigmatize PPD, and reassure other moms that they aren’t alone.

Serena Williams

She’s a 23-time Grand Slam champion, designer, and mom, but Serena Williams went through a dark period in her life after having her baby girl, Olympia. “Last week was not easy for me. Not only was I accepting some tough personal stuff, but I just was in a funk. Mostly, I felt like I was not a good mom,” she shared in an August 2018 Instagram post.

But the tennis great highlighted that, despite not feeling her best, she found that “talking things through with my mom, my sisters, my friends let me know that my feelings are totally normal. It’s totally normal to feel like I’m not doing enough for my baby.” Now, Serena has completely embraced motherhood, reminding other moms in the same post, “if you are having a rough day or week–it’s ok–I am, too!!!”