Former TOWIE star Georgia Kousoulou has revealed that she felt “ashamed” when she had postnatal depression following the birth of her son Brody.
She spoke about how she initially tried to hide her feelings of guilt and depression, but her fiancé Tommy Mallet sensed something was wrong and told her midwife and mother.
The 30-year-old and Mallet welcomed their baby boy in May 2021.
Kousoulou opened up to author Giovanna Fletcher on her podcast Happy Mum, Happy Baby, and spoke candidly about how she thought she would have an “instant bond” with her baby.
“I looked at him and loved him, but I didn’t have that, ‘I’m a mother, I know what to do’ [moment],” she said.
“I genuinely thought it was going to happen and this was going to be an unbelievable experience. I sat there one day and took myself into the bathroom as my house is full of people and I felt I couldn’t be sad.
“I remember sitting there thinking, ‘Why is everyone so happy about this child and I am not?’,” she recalled.
Despite trying to hide her feelings from Mallet, the businessman decided to intervene.
“I was downstairs after and my midwife was there, my mum was there and Tommy said, ‘Georgia is not happy, something is going on’.
“At the time, I was like’ what had he done’ and I was so angry, but it was the best thing he did and I burst out crying. I said all my emotions for the first time and I felt instantly better,” she said.
Postnatal depression is a common issue that affects more than one in every 10 women within a year of having a baby, and can also affect fathers and partners, according to the NHS.
But Kousoulou recalls that “no one ever spoke about the hard times, everyone always tells you the good bits”, which led her to feel as though she was alone in experiencing it.
“I don’t know why women have to feel as if they have got all their s*** together. And that’s how I felt – I felt ashamed of myself feeling that way,” she admitted.
“Honestly, I thought I was the only person who felt like that as no one told me about it. I felt like Tommy was even going to judge me. I felt embarrassed for him, so when he did it for me that was it. I literally just burst out crying.”
Symptoms of postnatal depression include feeling sad, tearful or anxious for longer than two weeks after giving birth.
Lacking energy and enjoyment, as well as finding it difficult to look after yourself and your baby are also symptoms, and the NHS advises speaking to a GP, midwife or health visitor as soon as possible.
If you have been affected by this article, you can contact the following organisations for support: mind.org.uk, pandasfoundation.org.uk, nhs.uk/livewell/mentalhealth, mentalhealth.org.uk, samaritans.org.
