Newborns are called bundles of joy for a reason, but that doesn't mean parenthood is all sunshine and roses. Becoming a parent is physically and mentally taxing, and Halle Bailey wants to end the stigma surrounding it. The Little Mermaid star opened up about her postpartum experience on Snapchat earlier this month, and the video is gaining attention after being reposted on Instagram.
"I just wanted to speak a little bit about my postpartum journey as a new mom, and now trying to work while still being severely postpartum," Bailey says in the video. "Honestly, I have severe, severe postpartum…I don't know if any new moms can relate, but it's to the point where it's really bad. It’s hard for me to be separated from my baby for more than 30 minutes at a time before I start to kind of freak out."
Bailey and her boyfriend, DDG, announced the birth of their son, Halo, in January. In her Snapchat video, the actress praised DDG for being "the most amazing daddy in the world," emphasizing how "present" he is as a father. She also heaped lavish praise on her "perfect" and "beautiful son."
Her postpartum depression experience, meanwhile, stems from the changes to her body. "When I look in the mirror, I just feel like I'm in a whole new body. Like, I don't know who I am," Bailey said. "Before I had a child and I would hear people talk about postpartum, it would kind of just go in one ear and out the other. I didn't realize how serious of a thing it actually was."
As many as one in seven women may experience postpartum depression, according to the National Institutes of Health. That figure is even higher for Black women, many of whom don't receive the treatment they need. By sharing her experience with her fans, Bailey is working to end the shame that often surrounds mental health conversations, and for that, we salute her.
